Beyond the Lie
by Demain Matin
Summary: Sequel to Precious Times: After Atlantis came back to Earth, what will await the gang once they've gone back to the Pegasus galaxy? Warnings: McShep later on, OC, mpreg, crack-ish, slight spoiler at beginning of chap01.
1. The Return

**The Return**

Here they were all; the members of the Atlantis back on Earth. Home. Safe, at last.

The battle against the Wraiths had been a difficult one. Whilst they had been able to destroy the super-hive, they didn't eliminate all of the Wraiths. Pegasus was still swarming with those life-sucking aliens.

However, with Atlantis' entry into the atmosphere, the city suffered some major damages and it was going to take a lot of time to repair everything. They didn't have the materials to rebuild some of the parts of the city's buildings. They decided, after numerous meetings, to concentrate on the main tower and would think about the others afterwards. Atlantis' ZPMs were not completely depleted; but with all those repairs, it left them as a -rather large- sitting duck in the Pacific Ocean.

The members of the Atlantis expedition took this time to enjoy a break from the constant fear of being under attack. Some went to visit family, while others decided to quit the Atlantis adventure to settle down in a more normal life.

After that short time, the senior members were to stay on the floating city to supervise; some people had stayed on board, not having anything else to do, or to help repair the floating city.

...o.o.o...

John was looking through the window, wondering when it was going to stop pouring. It had rained for days on the city of the Ancients. It was gloomy and he hated it; during those kind of times, it would put him in a nostalgic mood. Being nostalgic always reminded him of his childhood; and at that moment, it made him think of Alexander, his son in that alternate dimension. A few years had passed since the boy had visited them, but it still felt like yesterday. Now he'd probably be around 8 or something like that; John wondered what the boy would look like.

If only he was still with them...

He tried to remember the happy moments, but could only feel emptiness and longing. It felt as though he had lost a child. He scoffed; these thoughts getting ridiculous. At that moment, he was glad that Rodney was occupied with something in the labs; looking at the man reminded him of Alexander. It would also look suspicious if Sheppard came by the labs when there was no valid reason for it. Sure, he did it a couple of times in the past... more like a couple of hundreds of times, but now it was different; Rodney was in love with Jennifer Keller. The scientist hadn't been the same since he started "seeing" her.

While everyone went back to their occupations, Sheppard was left alone because he was the head of security of Atlantis… and there wasn't any menace -as of yet- on Earth. He was also alone because he didn't have a "better half" like the others. Yep, the guy who seemed the less likely to end up alone, did; his Kirk reputation sure sucked real bad. Of course, he had gotten the chance to go see his brother during the break; spending time there had been a nice vacation, since Dave now occupied the family estate. At first, it was fine, but, like many other times, John got into an argument with his brother and couldn't stand the other man, so he left.

The positive outcome was that, on Earth, there had been enough time to sit back and relax, without the constant fear of Wraith attacks or any danger found in the Pegasus galaxy. But now it was plain _boring_.

John scoffed at his own miserable thoughts and got up to go to the mess hall.

Even though they were all back to what most called 'home', John felt better staying on the floating city than when he was at the family estate with brother. Atlantis was _his_ home. Stargate Command had informed all passengers of the city that when it would be repaired, Atlantis would set its course back to the Pegasus Galaxy. John wondered if the expedition team and goal would stay the same or they would change the formula. Would they let him back on the team? His job was rather important, so he could always bring this as an argument; it's not like Atlantis should be left defenseless without a military force to protect it.

As he walked, he greeted a few people that he made eye contact with and went to get his lunch before sitting down at a free table.

Munching on his sandwich, he could hear two people arguing and coming to the mess hall. From the shouts, he was able to clearly identify who it was: McKay and Zelenka. They seemed to be angry at something, yet, it was something he couldn't quite grasp.

He waited for the two men to enter the mess hall and sent them a sign to come and sit with him.

"Hey Sheppard" "Hello colonel" both scientists said, stopping arguing for a second.

John tried to greet them back, but the two immediately continued their conversation where they had left it.

"Oh sure! Now you're gonna tell me that this miscalculation was a test, again?" McKay shot out.

"NO, RODNEY! I was going to correct it when you pushed that damn button and THEN everything went wrong!"

All the shouting was getting to John's nerves: "Guys! Okay, enough!" When the two scientists stopped to stare at him, he continued: "As long as you're sitting here, you will eat and talk normally. No yelling here." And with a triumphant smirk, he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Whatever _colonel, _you didn't have to yell to get your point accross, you know" Rodney said, rolling his eyes.

Zelenka mumbled something angrily, but John didn't have the nerve to make him repeat. Clearing his throat, he asked, knowing this was considered dangerous terrain: "So... how are the reparations going?"

A clank was heard before McKay answered with much frustration: "What if I told you that I don't want to think about it right now? Would that answer be satisfying for _monsieur_?"

John was surprised by the harsh tone; there was no smirk in McKay's face. "I see" he answered flatly. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'm done here."

McKay stopped yelling and blurted out: "WHAT? but you're not even _finished_!" He dropped his fist on the cafeteria table.

The military man just waved his hand in dismissal "Whatever" and left the mess hall, after throwing again his half-eaten meal. Not hungry anymore, he decided to go practice katas in the training room to kill some time and release some pent up frustration.

...o.o.o...

Instead, he found Teyla training by herself.

"It seems you had the same idea as I did" Sheppard said with a smile.

Teyla stopped to greet him: "Good afternoon, colonel. Earth was very beautiful, but I need to stay in shape, for when we return to Pegasus. The battle isn't over."

John nodded nonchalantly. "So, want a little friendly match?" he said, as he took a pair of sticks for himself.

Teyla smiled warmly: "Of course, John. Let's see what you have learned since the last time we fought."

They both took a stance and got ready.

After a few intense minutes of sparring, Sheppard hit Teyla's arm for the second time during the first round of the match. "Are you letting me win?" he asked incredulously. He stopped and relaxed, putting a banto stick on his shoulder to take a break.

Teyla sighed. "No, John. I think... I may be a bit unfocused today. That is all." Making the sticks twirl in her hands, she motioned Sheppard to continue.

"What's occupying your mind?" he shot, as they got back into stance.

"I guess I am eager to return to the Pegasus galaxy, to see Canann and Torren." Her eyes, never leaving the opponent.

He lowered his stance, walking in circles, ready to hit: "Well, it _has_ been almost 3 months since we've left the Pegasus Galaxy, doing near nothing." And he attacked.

But he was blocked by Teyla, and she pushed him to the ground. Helping her friend to get up, she added with a soft smile: "Yes, far too long in my taste."

...o.o.o...

During the evening, as he was making plans for the morrow in his quarters, John's doorbell rang. Without getting up from his desk, where he was going through a pile of papers, he yelled "Come in."

To see that it was Rodney made John want to close and lock the door. But, ever the polite military man he was, he greeted the scientist instead: "Hi, Rodney."

"Hey" Rodney awkwardly answered. "What'cha doing?" he asked, as he entered the small apartment.

"Planning stuff." John saiddejectedly_**.**_ "Why does it interest _you_?" he said as he examined his papers; he felt his answer had been a tad rude, so he evaded his friend's gaze.

McKay shrugged: "Dunno. Out of curiosity." He then put his hands in his pockets, waiting.

"So, what now?" Sheppard asked impatiently, not looking up. He knew Rodney was there for a reason.

A short hesitation was felt on Rodney's part: "Well... I don't know how to say it... I'm going to propose to Jennifer."

John's heart skipped a beat; he was frozen on the spot, papers in hands.

"Sheppard?"

The man snapped out of his silent stupor and answered, looking straight into the scientist's eyes: "Huh, yeah. Congrats, buddy" and added a fake smile to go with that. He felt the same way as three years back, when he saw the proposal ring for Katie Brown, the botanist.

Rodney didn't pick up the lie in John's voice, so he said happily: "Thanks." And stood there, not really knowing what to say next.

Out of patience, John finally motioned him to sit down.

Rodney did as asked. And there, the awkward silence was back. So he blurted out: "Are you mad at me?"

That question surprised John, because all he could say was: "What?"

"I dunno. It's like you're angry at me... for something." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "And I don't know what it is" McKay said, a bit annoyed.

Of course, John couldn't empty his heart as Rodney wished, because there was something that could not be said. So he quickly made up an excuse: "I'm not angry at you per se. It's just... I'm getting bored here and there's nothing to do on Atlantis."

The scientist's eyes lit up: "Oh. Well you should have said it sooner. We need someone to sit in the chair to help repair the city and tell us how it's going."

Working with the scientific team was out of the questions, because Jennifer was always checking on Rodney and stealthily giving John the evil eye. "I'll see about that. But I was also thinking about starting to get back into shape. I think I let myself relax too much and need to return to my training to be prepared for when we get back to the Pegasus galaxy."

Rodney looked a bit disappointed: "Huh. Okay then." He looked at his watch. "Well, I'll be going. I'm meeting Jennifer for dinner. And then I'm going back to the repairs. Good evening."

"Bye" John answered back. As Rodney left the room, he wanted to hit himself with his pillow for being stuck in that weird situation. '_Stupid, stupid, stupid..._' he repeated mentally, like a mantra.

...o.o.o...

In the end, it took another month for the repairs to be complete. They were finally on their way back to the Pegasus galaxy.

Woolsey was having a meeting with a team of scientists new to the Atlantis adventure.

Suddenly, a flash of light engulfed the conference room and, as everyone was blinded by the brightness, an unknown, but excited voice was heard: "Oh wow! I did it correctly this time!"

Woolsey tried to calm down the people present in the room. He sent a signal to the marine guarding the door to be ready for anything. "Who are you?" he asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice. He still couldn't see clearly, but he could now discern a tall figure standing in the middle of the conference room.

"It's me!" the young man said, a dashing smile accompanying the sentence.

Squinting his eyes, Woolsey then took in the physical appearance of the person standing: young adult, tall, broad shoulders, clear blue eyes, slightly pointed ears and dark disheveled hair. The young man looked a lot like John Sheppard. Odd. But he also reminded him of someone else he knew.

This was too strange. A shaking hand to his radio, he communicated with Chuck: "This is... urgent. Tell Dr. McKay and colonel Sheppard to come to the conference room... Immediately!" Still confused, he asked for the young man's name.

"My name is Alexander, sir. I need to speak with colonel Sheppard" he replied. He took a deep breath and declared, crossing his arms: "Yup, feels good to be back."

Woolsey let out a nervous chuckle. "Hum... sure." He motioned the soldiers to stay alert until the two concerned senior members arrived.

Everyone in the room was bewildered . The only thing left was to wait.

* * *

A/N: Hello there, everyone! Here's _Beyond the Lie (BtL)_, the sequel to my story _Precious Times (PT)_. Yes, I brought Alexander back! lol he was begging me to. This one is set AFTER season five.

If some of you didn't read _PT_, I strongly suggest you do (and since it's not that long, it won't take you much time); while this one could be read as a stand-alone, you may miss some details that were explained in the previous story.

I actually started this story two years ago, but only got to really write it a few months ago. The problem was, I had some scenes depicted in my mind, but no real story to mend them together; the first chapter was the most difficult to write, I had no inspiration. It's going to be a bit longer than _Precious Times_, if I follow my plan from beginning to end.

Yes, it's another mpreg story (I _am_ planning a non-mpreg McShep story, but it's not yet written), as some people requested that John had his own kid in his universe and I had the intention to write the sequel anyways. The funny thing is that, a year before writing _PT_, I wanted to write something, and had some ideas for ___BtL_; so this one is actually older than _PT_, in some way.

Please review! I'd like to know what you think of the first chapter :) Like I mentioned, I am not really proud of it, I feel it's missing something... so maybe I'll edit it lightly before posting the next chapter.


	2. Good to Be Back

**Good to be back**

When he was called, Sheppard was reading his book, trying to relax after having supervised a group of marines that had embarked with them before leaving Earth. When he heard Woolsey's urgent tone, however, he was already leaving his room.

When he was called, McKay was in a heavy make out session. He could only groan to Woolsey's urgent tone.

"Fuck" Jennifer spat, out of breath. Why did it _always_ have to happen during those moments? She sighed. "Come on, go" she reluctantly pushed Rodney off the bed, with a sour expression.

He got up and rearranged his clothes. He then turned around and gave her a quick peck on the forehead: "I won't be long… hopefully."

...o.o.o...

But when both men got to the conference room, they couldn't hide their surprise; they had been expecting a more… dangerous situation.

"Mom! Dad!" Alexander greeted both of them with a strong hug. "How are you guys doing?" he asked, beaming.

Sheppard was too shocked to answer, but Rodney was quick to shoot back: "What are _you_ doing here?"

Alexander was a bit taken aback by the man's question: "Well, I came to visit." He then admitted: "I missed you guys." He looked around and was reminded that Woolsey was waiting.

The Atlantis leader looked at Sheppard and asked: "So he's not a threat? You know him?"

"Yeah, he came here a few years ago, when Elizabeth was Atlantis' leader… although he was a lot younger" John answered. "He's… huh" he paused, looking at the room full of people, "well, maybe you should read some old reports?" He didn't want everyone to know who was Alexander. He had enough of all the jokes related to that when the boy was with them three years back.

Woolsey seemed hesitant. "Very well. I'll find Elizabeth's reports and do some research." He cleared his throat, trying to sound serious as he talked to Alexander: "Young man, I want to see you at 13:30. My office." He turned to John: "Now if you don't mind, I need to finish this meeting."

"Yes, sir" and Sheppard saluted, before leaving with Rodney and Alexander. "Let's get lunch, guys." He had many questions for the young man, related to his presence on Atlantis.

...o.o.o...

Team SGA-01 sat at a table in the mess hall, eating lunch and discussing, mostly about Alexander's arrival with him.

"So what's new, buddy?" Sheppard asked, not really knowing where to start. He knew the young man had a reason to be there.

Alexander smiled, but his eyes were not. Teyla noticed, but didn't comment about it.

"A lot of things are new." He sighed and spun his fork between his fingers. "I have so much to tell you guys."

"What about that sibling of yours? You know, the one that... when your parents came to get you last time?" Rodney asked, a bit uncomfortable.

The young man stiffened. "Oh, you mean the twins. Laurence and Evelyne. Well... Laurence died when she was around two years old" Alexander admitted sadly. "It was a strange illness, a fever, native from the Pegasus Galaxy that we didn't have the antibiotics for. " He looked at his plate intently. "We also lost a lot of people from the expedition because of it."

Rodney's face changed and he said with remorse: "I huh, I'm sorry to hear about that. I... heard it's hard to lose a child." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I shouldn't have asked… it's none of my business."

The young man used his fork to play with the food in his plate. "It's okay, don't worry." He looked up: "Mom fell into depression and dad... dad tried to manage Atlantis all by himself. The next couple of years were difficult." He then smiled widely: "But in the end, everything was fine. Mom snapped out of depression and dad was finally able to cut down on work. Yeah. Now Evelyne is fifteen years old and doing fine." He took a bite.

"How are your parents doing?" Sheppard asked, blowing on his soup, to cool it.

It was then that Alexander's expression darkened. He swallowed the food: "Dad died. Last year."

Silence was permeating the air at the table. No one dared to talk.

The young man then continued: "That's why I'm here. Mom..." he stared into empty space "hasn't been the same since. It's even worse than when Laurence died. He's like... empty." He then put his face in his hands and started to sob. "I t-tried to help h-him, but... I don't know what to do anymore..."

Teyla was fast on her feet and went to hug Alexander. "Let it go, Alexander. Your burden is too heavy for you. Let us help you."

So the young man cried, like a small child. He felt better after that, but still felt lonely.

Everyone else at the table sat there, not really knowing what to say or do.

"I tried to take care of Evelyne, but I couldn't do it while helping out the second in command of Atlantis, on top of caring for mom..." Alexander finally said. "It felt like I was all alone."

Teyla rubbed his back soothingly, but said nothing.

It was then that the young man turned to face her and admitted: "If it wouldn't have been for you, Teyla... well the Teyla in my dimension, I think I would have left everything and tried to find the easy way out of that life."

"Is that why you came here?" Ronon asked.

Alexander looked outside, the ocean reflected in his blue eyes, still shiny from the tears. "Yes, I needed to see my dad... and my mom like they were before this whole tragedy." He breathed in slowly. "It was actually aunt Teyla's suggestion." He then shot a smile at the said woman. "She said it would do me good to see you guys and to learn how to lead a city."

"We're sorry to hear about your losses, Alex" Sheppard said. "But what about your sister? If your mo-... If _John_ is such in a bad shape, who's taking care of her?"

"A few years ago, our communications with Earth renewed. So we met aunt Jeannie and her family. Before leaving to come here, I arranged things so that Laurence would live with aunt Jeannie for a while."

Rodney hummed, but said nothing.

Sheppard shot a glance at the scientist, before asking Alexander, with as much tact he could muster: "How did your dad... die?" He knew Rodney was also very curious about this topic.

But then Teyla intervened. "I think that's enough questions for today. Anyways, as far as I know, Mr Woolsey scheduled a meeting with Alexander in fifteen minutes, so he should get on his way."

...o.o.o...

"So, Alexander... What's your last name?"

"McKay-Sheppard."

Writing down the information on computer tablet, he continued: "From what I read in an earlier report -and from what people told me- you are from another dimension." Mr Woolsey sat back in his chair, trying to analyze the person in front of him.

The young man nodded.

"But how come you are a lot older? You were five back then, and if my calculations are right, you would be eight... But you are what… eighteen, twenty?"

Alexander sat straighter in his armchair: "I'm 20 and will be 21 in a couple of months. You see, Mr Woolsey, on top of journeying to another dimension, I also went back in time... don't ask me how, though, I'm still trying to understand that. So, here I am" he concluded, with a large smile.

"I see." The leader wrote down some notes with his tablet. "And your reason to come back?" He looked up, with curious eyes.

Alexander's smile fell: "My father, Dr McKay, died in my own dimension. I simply needed to see him one more time..." He looked down at his lap, a small wave of sorrow hitting him.

The other man nodded. "I'm sorry to hear about your father," he said solemnly, keeping his eyes on the tablet, as he wrote something down, "but I need to know: how long did you plan on staying here?"

"I... don't know. Didn't really think about it." He looked up: "As long as you'll let me stay?" he said with hope.

Woolsey took a minute to think about it. As long as he helped out, he guessed that it wouldn't hurt to have another person around. "Do you have any specific formation, or studies that could help this mission?"

Alexander's expression brightened: "I always had a fascination about the human body; I remember following Dr. Beckett in the infirmary and asking a lot of questions or looking into his books for more information when I was a kid. In my early teens, I studied under a couple of healers on different planets; I am rather knowledgeable about native plants and their healing properties. Back in my own dimension I also started, a year ago, a military training on Atlantis to eventually become a medic."

The older man nodded; this could be interesting.

"I also know how to use a handgun. Mom showed me when I was thirteen, saying it could save a life to know how to use one in the Pegasus galaxy. I've also been practicing because of my military training."

"Of course. It should actually be a condition to be met for future candidates who want to come here" Woolsey said, as he took note of that. "We never know when it could be useful!" he said, with a chuckle.

Alexander laughed nervously; oh how many times his favourite handgun had saved his life. "Of course, Mr Woolsey."

The older man then looked down at his notes, and sighed. He got up and held out his hand: "Welcome on board, Mr McKay-Sheppard. I'm sure your presence will be of great help to this expedition."

Getting up, the young man smiled widely and shook hands with Mr Woolsey. "Thank you."

...o.o.o...

A door to the recreational room slid open. "Whatcha guys doing?"

John, Teyla and Ronon looked up from the TV screen, where a movie was playing.

Sheppard took the remote and paused the film.

"How did it go, Alexander?" Teyla asked.

He shrugged nonchalantly: "Oh you know, it was okay."

John, who was sitting on the sofa besides the Athosian woman looked at the young man with mock suspicion: "Just that? Okay? He didn't tell you anything important?"

The Satedan rose an eyebrow, to support his friend's question.

Alexander sat down on an armchair close to them: "Ahh, comfy."

Ronon laughed at the young man's lack of answer.

Then making a face, as if he was recalling a memory: "Oh yeah… he said that I could go on missions with the teams and that I would be a great addition to Atlantis" Alexander said with a large charming smile.

John smiled widely and got up to congratulate the other: "I knew Woolsey wouldn't pass a chance of having someone new on a team."

Teyla hugged warmly Alexander: "Congratulations and welcome back."

Ronon gave him a pat on the back: "Congrats, kiddo. Can't wait to see how you'll do out there on the field."

Alexander gave a weak chuckle at that last comment; he wasn't exactly like Ronon and John, soldiers. Being more of a pacifist, he preferred collecting data than fighting. But that didn't mean that he was defenseless when in danger. He just hoped he wouldn't disappoint his 'mother' when the time would come.

...o.o.o...

The day after, Alexander entered Rodney's room as the man was sitting on his bed, working on his laptop. "Hey dad."

"Hey."

Then there was a silence.

As he was working, Rodney was getting annoyed by having Alexander staring at him like he was an alien. The clicking sound of the keyboard stopped. "What?" he shot, impatiently.

The young man, sitting on the bed's end, shrugged. "Dunno. It's weird being back. It's still kinda like a shock that things aren't like back home. You, being alive, is the biggest difference."

That last sentence made Rodney uncomfortable: "Huh, well I hope it's a positive difference? Right?"

Alexander smiled lightly. "Yeah, it is." He then switched subject: "Hey, mom told me that you want to propose to Jennifer?"

The older man nodded: "Hopefully it won't be ruined by something like Atlantis shutting down because it thinks it's being attacked by a virus."

Alexander's visible clueless stare got Rodney explaining: "The last time I was going to propose to someone, it didn't turn out so well. She left a few months after that."

"Why did she leave?"

It was a flashback that Rodney had to share with Alexander, who was only four at the time.

"_I'm sorry! I couldn't find anyone to watch him, so I had to bring him over" Rodney said guiltily as he entered the botanist's lab._

_Katie looked at Alexander, who waved to say hello while hiding himself behind his father. She waved back and smiled slightly, sighing inwardly; she had thought that Rodney and her would have been alone._

_The child looked at the numerous plants in the lab: "Daddy, can I go see?" _

"_Sure, but don't touch anything. Some of them are poisonous." Rodney sat down beside the botanist as Alexander left them. "So, you wanted to meet?"_

_The brown-haired woman looked intently at the man and sighed as she then looked at the little boy walking around the laboratory: "You know, Rodney... I've been thinking a lot."_

_Rodney looked confused._

_So Katie continued: "You remember last time we had a date?"_

"_Of course, it was when Atlantis decided to shut itself down."_

"_Yes, that was months ago" the woman said, sadly._

_Rodney was startled: "What? That much? It feels like it happened yesterday." He thought for a second; Alexander wasn't even with them when it happened, which means that it had been around four months since their last date._

_Katie then took Rodney's hands into her own and, with all the courage she could muster, declared: "Look, Rodney. I think that your heart can't belong to me, as it already belongs to someone else." She lowered her eyes. 'Although you don't seem to realize it yet' she thought sadly. "I don't feel that we're in a relationship. So I won't burden you with those things again." She got up and left the botany lab. "Goodbye, Rodney."_

_The doors whooshed and Rodney felt emptiness in his mind. He didn't understand why he was feeling like that, since Katie was right: they hadn't been in a real relationship. But what did she mean by his heart belonging to someone else?_

_Small hands brought him back to reality._

"_Daddy!"_

"Dad!"

Rodney felt a hand shake his shoulder. His eyes focused on Alexander, now all grown up. "Huh, sorry." He cleared his throat: "So yeah, after that, she left with the next group when the Daedalus came to Atlantis."

"I see. And now you think that Jennifer is the one you feel is the 'right one'?"

"Yeah, I think so." McKay then cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, uh, Alexander, did you have a… girlfriend, back in your own dimension?" He looked back at his screen, but not focusing on anything.

The young man blushed slightly and looked at his shoes intently. "No. But there was that girl…" He bit his lower lip and continued: "But she left Atlantis because her parents moved back to Earth when we were able to get communication with Earth working again." He then looked up wishfully: "What about you and mom? How is it going?"

"What?" the scientist croaked out, after choking on his saliva.

"You know-"

"NO!" McKay cleared his throat. "-I mean, no" he got a hold of himself. "I'm going out with Jennifer, and we're happy together. Sheppard doesn't fit anywhere in this."

Alexander was speechless, but managed to let out a weak "Oh, ok." It did sadden him a little that the Sheppard and Rodney from that dimension still couldn't see that they were made for each other.

"You know what, I have a lot of work to do, so if you'd please…" Rodney gestured his computer screen. But in reality, it was his way to say that the conversation was finished.

The young man knew that the last part had made his father uneasy, so he got up and as he left, he declared: "Well, I'll go see mom, to see what he's up to if _you_ don't want to talk to me. Bye."

...o.o.o...

A week after they were back on the planet MGK-640, Atlantis' home before they left for Earth, they were ready to get back to exploring the different planets of the Pegasus Galaxy. Thankfully, the Wraith didn't seem particularly active at that period, so they had a break to re-settle things with their trading partners, as well as the Athosians.

"Like good old times." Richard Woolsey declared sarcastically. He then turned to Sheppard: "Colonel, good luck with this planet." And then to Major Lorne's scientist team: "Don't forget to be careful." They were going to explore a planet that hadn't been visited yet, MRT-044.

"Yes, sir" both major and colonel answered swiftly.

Lorne's team was to collect environmental data about the planet, as there was close to none in the Ancients' database. There was Zelenka, Simpson and Alexander; even though he wasn't a certified medic, Alexander was still very helpful when it came to experience on the field. He was happy to help, and Woolsey didn't mind the extra 'free' help.

Sheppard's team was to try to meet with the natives of the planet... although hey had no idea of who they were. Again, there was no other information found in the database; only that they were called the Khajiits.

Everyone was finishing strapping their gears on, while Woolsey gestured Chuck to activate the gate.

Sheppard sighed deeply with a smile on his face, anxious to get back on the field.

"Well, Let's see who those Khajiits are" Ronon said. He hoped for some kind of challenge.

"I just hope they have advanced technology we can learn about. Gettin' bored here" Rodney added, as he pointed himself.

Sheppard chuckled as he motioned them to walk through the gate: "There's only one way to know."

* * *

A/N: Hi there! Already posted chapter 2. Now, for chapter 1, I mentioned that I thought it was a bit rushed and that I might edit it; if I do, I'll mention it. However it won't be major stuff that would change the storyline.

Even though this chapter has a little over 3000 words, I feel that it's... empty, not enough stuff in it :( Please you guys, tell me what you thought of it so I can improve it! :'(


	3. A tormented past and a new future

**A/N: I forgot to mention, at the end of the previous chapter, that the "Khajiits", the natives of the planet, do not belong to me. They are a race that can be chosen in the game series The Elder Scrolls. I feel bad for not mentioning it before! Now onto the story!**

* * *

**A tormented past and a new future**

As soon as they got to the planet, both teams split ways.

As major Lorne's team was going west, Rodney was checking for energy signals around them. "Arghhh, damn. There's nothing of interest here" was his obvious complaint.

Sheppard said with a roll of the eyes: "Shut up McKay," but also had a small smile. "I'm sure we'll find something interesting."

The scientist grumbled and Ronon gave him a pat on the on the shoulder to show sympathy. "I feel for you, man."

"Really?" said Rodney, surprised.

The Satedan smiled with all his teeth showing. "Nope."

Teyla chuckled when she saw the scientist's shocked face: "Play nice, boys."

Everyone was glad to be back out on the field again. As they walked, they talked about previous missions that they had done and how often it wouldn't go as planned.

An hour later, they came across a village. It was in ruins, smoke still fuming from burnt huts.

"What do you think happened here?" McKay put into words his thoughts.

Ronon and Teyla both answered grimly: "A calling."

Sheppard looked around some huts, trying to find some survivors, when something akin to a person jumped out of a bush and ran on all four at high speed toward the man, pushing him to the ground. It then jumped into another large bush, and ran west into the forest close to the village. All of this in a few seconds.

"Colonel!" Teyla helped him up. "Are you okay?" When the man nodded, she looked around, trying to see what had attacked him.

Ronon took out his gun and surveyed the area, to see if anything else would try to surprise them again.

"Should we pursue it… whatever_ it _was?" Rodney asked. Not that he wanted to, but he had to ask.

Dusting himself off, Sheppard replied with doubt: "It's too fast." Looking west, he continued: "But we could always try to follow the direction it took; maybe there's another village there."

...o.o.o...

After walking in the forest for a while, they came to a clearing. In the middle of it, sat a large structure, resembling a small laboratory used by the Ancients.

As Rodney walked around the giant Lantean machine, he was awed by the strange design of it. It was curvier than what was usually seen on Lantean equipment; he had never seen those kinds of blues and pinks before. He let his hand glide over the smooth metal. "Hm. This is strange."

"What's strange?" John asked, poking his head from the front of the machine, touching it. It lightened up, and a damaged screen blipped twice. "Hey! I activated it."

McKay rolled his eyes. "Yes, how impressive of you." He then approached it further for inspection. "I was saying that it's strange because it's out in the open, instead of being in a lab or something. Whatever." He walked to the front of the machine and rubbed his hands together: "Let's see what this baby can do..."

As he looked around, he saw two thick disks on the ground, about one meter of circumference each, that were connected to the machine. He entered one, but it did nothing. So he motioned Sheppard to enter the other one.

From a few meters away, the other two members watched.

"Dr. McKay, what do you think it does?" Teyla asked. "Can you understand what is written on the screen, even though it's damaged?"

Rodney shrugged. "Not really. Maybe it's another one of those ascending machines. Can't be worse than that." He looked in the other disk's direction: "Hey Sheppard! Wanna see if you're gonna get super-intelligent?" he said with a challenging tone.

"Well, if I do become smarter, we'll have to see which one of us is the smartest." John grinned playfully.

Ronon frowned, but said nothing. He had a bad feeling about all this.

McKay then activated the machine and the disks reacted by raising glass walls from the base to encase the two men inside.

At that moment, Sheppard tried to get out; he feared it wouldn't be a happy ending for them.

And he was right, because Rodney, a few meters away, was pricked by a mechanic arm with a needle at its end.

John could see from afar that needle and tried to escape, but the walls were made of thick glass. He tried to break free by shooting with his P-90, but it only served to make the bullet ricochet and graze his left thigh. "Shit." And then, it was his turn; another mechanical arm approached him with a needle and, even though he tried to evade it, he felt a pinch on his right arm.

The walls around both pods receded and they were free again. It only had taken less than a minute, but had seemed an eternity for the victims.

"What the hell was that?" Ronon asked, surprised. He hadn't had the time to react, that it was already finished. He hated those kind of situations.

Sheppard held his arm where he had been pierced. It hurt weirdly, like when he was a kid and got vaccines. It tingled a bit too. "Damn it." And there was his thigh that had been grazed by the bullet.

Teyla approached the two men and eyed them quickly: "Are you both okay?"

But neither of them had to time to answer that someone rushed out of the bushes, a Wraith at its tail.

Ronon was quick to shoot the life-sucking alien and kill it.

Then, the humanoid animal froze on the spot, fear written in its eyes. It resembled a giant cat, but bipedal, like humans. Its ears were constantly moving, as if analyzing the situation.

"Do not worry, we are not your enemies" Teyla said swiftly with a soft tone of voice.

The creature hissed and started to run away, ears flattened on its skull.

"Wait!" Rodney said, wanting to know more about what he thought to be a native of the planet.

Ronon started to run after it.

The team braced themselves and tried to keep up with Ronon and the other individual.

They arrived to a steep hill, where the cat person climbed up with ease. Arriving on top, it roared and disappeared from view.

"There seems to be a cavern at the top" Ronon mentioned. He approached the wall of rocks and started to climb.

"Ronon, wait." Teyla then motioned Sheppard and Rodney who just caught up with them.

John rubbed where the needle had pricked him; it was throbbing now. Between breaths, he asked: "What makes you think that she... well I _think_ it's a 'she'... maybe she's waiting for us to climb to ambush us?"

Ronon growled, knowing that he wouldn't be permitted to chase after 'her'.

Rodney took a deep breath in and yelled loud enough so she could hear him, at the top of the hill: "Hey you! We just want to talk, that's it!"

After a few seconds, the scientist abandoned, letting his arms fall on each side of this body.

But much to everyone's surprise, a head with huge ears popped from the top of the hill. Ears twitching, she seemed to wait and then disappeared.

"Do you think this is a sign for us to climb?" Sheppard asked no one in particular, as he looked up, judging how much time it would take.

"I guess we could try..." Rodney said. "Think you can climb this, big guy?" he asked Ronon.

The Satedan evaluated the steepness of the hill; he then nodded and took a rope from Rodney, before starting to climb.

While they waited, Teyla turned to the other two men: "You didn't have time to answer, earlier. How are you feeling?"

Rodney answered quickly: "Fine." He turned to the colonel, "Sheppard?"

The said man shrugged and took a look at the tiny hole on his arm. "I guess I'm okay. Although this hurts like a bitch." He looked at the Canadian: "Yours doesn't?"

McKay shook his head.

"You should get this checked out by the doctors, colonel. Maybe it is nothing, but it could be a symptom to a greater illness" Teyla said with certainty.

"Don't worry, I will" he replied, to reassure the Athosian woman.

A rope was then thrown down near them: "Climb up" Ronon shouted.

As they all got up at the top of the hill, they were able to grasp better the situation.

The tall Satedan then pointed behind him with his thumb. "They seem to be hiding in that cave."

"They?" Sheppard inquired.

"Look! It's that... girl from earlier" Rodney cut in, yet not sure of what to call her.

There was indeed that person they had been chasing earlier. She was standing tall, trying to act brave in front of others, just like her. "Who... are you?" she asked non-trustingly.

Now standing still, they were all able to see her better; she seemed like a giant humanoid cat, but with markings like cheetahs. Not very tall, her eyes and ears were on constant alert. She was dressed lightly, covering only the essential.

"We are travelers," started Teyla, with a soft and non-threatening voice.

"We wanted to know if you were okay" Sheppard continued. "We saw the village in ruins and we wanted to see if there were any survivors."

The female alien nodded and answered in a broken English: "We are well. Khajiits thank you for concern. But we need no help..."

As she was going to finish her sentence, some clouds parted, letting sunlight invade a small part of the cave.

There were others like her, all huddled together. They were mostly elderly and children, but also...

"Are those males?" McKay blurted out, pointing at one in particular, with a large swollen belly.

The female started to growl and put herself between the team and the cave. "You do _not_ approach! _My_ mate!"

Rodney immediately put his hand in the air in surrender: "Okay! Okay! I-I-I won't d-do anything! I promise! but don't hurt me!"

"Jan S'ui!" another Khajiit yelled, getting at the top of the hill. Another female; she didn't look too pleased.

The said Khajiit bowed to the ground and answered: "Yes, S'Krivva, my queen."

"What did you do?" the 'queen' yelled in English, then switched to her mother tongue: _"You did not chase them away from the machine!"_

The gang stood there, silent, not wanting to anger anyone further, because they didn't understand a single word the queen had uttered.

Then, the second Khajiit switched to her mother tongue as well: _"But mother! I had to get to the refugees! They needed more of my help than these Tau'ris"_ Jan S'ui said, her ears flattened on her skull from confusion.

The queen stomped her foot on the ground_."You know it's sacred grounds! No one's supposed to go there!"_

"_But they were able to activate the machine, without the aid of the shaman!"_

"Hum, sorry to disturb you, but what's going on?" Rodney asked, feeling more courageous than a few minutes before. He had to know what was infuriating the queen and he couldn't understand a word of what they were saying. "We speak English" he said slowly, "we are here in peace."

"Do not speak this way to the Queen, we are not stupid" the Khajiit princess interjected, in English. She then walked toward the scientist, emanating an aura of intimidation.

Rodney backed away slowly, to hide behind Sheppard. "Please! Don't hurt me!"

The colonel stood tall against Jan S'ui: "Please. He didn't mean to insult anyone, sometimes he's just…" he tried to find something, in vain: "Whatever. But he was right about one thing: did we do something wrong?"

Teyla added, with honesty: "If so, we didn't mean to."

The queen was the one to speak up: "The machine. Sacred for Khajiits. No one must use it." She then looked at her daughter, and spoke in their language: "_Start gathering everyone. We will go back to the village, the Wraiths have gone back to through the gate_."

Jan S'ui did as asked and walked into the cave.

Rodney dreaded the answer to his next question: "What… is the purpose of that machine?"

The queen, S'Krivva, swished her tail back and forth, as if in deep thoughts: "This Khajiit cannot explain well in your language. Later, you see Ancestor. He will explain to you" she finally answered, in a broken English.

The team, seeing that they wouldn't get more information, offered their help to get back the people to the village.

...o.o.o...

While the team was collecting data, Alexander wandered slightly, looking at different directions, to see if there was anything else interesting. When he spotted something flashing in the distance, his curiosity got the best of him. He turned around and yelled to Lorne: "Major! I'm going further west, I want to see what that burst of energy was all about! I'll be right back!"

Hearing that the young man was going to leave the team, Evan quickly joined him, after ordering the scientific team to stay put and keep radio contact. "Wait! Alexander!" he yelled; he knew that if the young man was anything like his parents, he would surely find trouble. And if anything happened to him, McKay and Sheppard would have his hide.

Slowing down his speed, Alexander waited for the major to join him. "What, afraid of something happening? You know, I _can_ take care of myself. I'm not that five-year-old boy you knew a few years ago" he said with a knowing smile.

Evan looked away, a bit ashamed that the other had guessed his thoughts so easily. "Yeah, well I don't have the habit of leaving my team mates alone… especially scientists. They tend to overlook danger when they are absorbed in their work."

Alexander chuckled: "I guess you're kinda right. I often find myself studying Ancient texts and the next thing I know, I've spent the whole day reading."

They finally got to the place where Sheppard's team had been, a bit earlier that day. The already lit machine got Alexander's attention immediately. He approached it carefully, focusing on the flashing damaged screen. "So this must be what flashed earlier."

He stepped over one of the disks on the ground; the same Sheppard had stepped over. Intrigued, he stared at it for a minute, trying to figure out its purpose.

As Lorne was surveying the area, he stepped on the other disk.

That's when the machine bleeped thrice and both men were incased in glass walls.

...o.o.o...

Once everyone settled back into their houses, the queen had invited Sheppard's team into her hut, where they were discussing about the Khajiits' origins. All seated at a round table, they were listening to the princess.

"In the beginning, Khajiit was peaceful race, we lived with Lanteans, as venerated animals. But the _Wraiths_," she spat the word, "they imprisoned us. Bred Lanteans with our Khajiit Ancestor. We are product of evolution. We were born because of Lantean machine. Because of that, Khajiit females are not fertile anymore. Khajiit must depend on that stupid machine. "

The Atlantis team felt even more disgust towards the Wraiths.

The queen rose from her seat. "We tried to escape planet. But people didn't like Khajiits. So Khajiits stayed and survived. The Wraiths think Khajiits are toys. They think they can play with us." She closed her fist. "We are angry!" She growled lightly.

"But you spoke of an ancestor, earlier, is it the same one as in the story?" Rodney asked, curious.

Jan S'ui nodded: "Yes, but he is not here. We must go to temple."

The scientist's eyes lit up: "So you mean that your ancestor is still alive?"

Both princess and queen nodded. S'Krivva offered: "Daughter will show you way to temple."

The young Khajiit nodded: "Please, follow me."

The walk to the temple was rather silent, each member of the team in deep thoughts. They were all anxious to see that ancestor; what did he look like? Would he share information about the Ancients?

They followed a path that led to a small Ancient facility; as they entered, the lights turned on by themselves. "Huh? But this Khajiit not pushed the switch" the princess said, puzzled.

Rodney rolled his eyes: "That's because captain Kirk, here" he pointed Sheppard with his thumb, "has the Ancient gene to activate this place without even lifting a finger."

Jan S'ui's eyes grew large: "So this how you activated sacred machine!"

Sheppard nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

The light that turned on last, put emphasis on an upright cylindric glass container. What was inside made the whole gang gasp.

Within, there was a creature, very much alike a cat, floating in a liquid.

"Is that-" McKay started, but was cut by an eerily voice, that seemed to come out of nowhere.

'_A cat? Not exactly, Dr McKay.'_

Everyone looked around. "Who said that?" Rodney asked, creeped out by that person who knew his name and title.

The voice continued on a monotonous tone: '_I am the one the Khajiits call the Ancestor. I am, what you call on Earth, a cat. Or more like its predecessor. I was the first one who was interbred with an Ancient. And yes, I am more developed than cats you have on Earth, thus I can read minds and talk through telepathy._'

McKay, seeing that the ancestor had a larger range of English vocabulary to explain things, he went straight to the question they had first asked the queen, earlier. He cleared his throat, but the cat beat him to it.

'_The answer to your question, is yes. The machine the Khajiits call 'sacred' is indeed of Lantean origins and gives the chance, to its users, to procreate. The gender of the bearer does not matter. The Khajiits use it as a mean to reproduce; like Jan S'ui explained earlier, because of the evolution, Khajiits are infertile.'_

Rocks fell at the bottom of both concerned men.

Ronon, who had tried to follow, but hadn't been able to understand the reaction of his friends, asked out-loud: "What the hell is happening?"

Teyla put a hand on the Satedan's arm. She chose her words carefully: "Ronon, the colonel is most probably… pregnant. With Dr McKay's child."

Put like that, Rodney's rock went deeper into his stomach to eventually settle at his heels, making everything around him spin, until all turned black.

John reached quickly to catch the collapsing man, but was only able to soften the fall. He gently smacked the scientist's cheek to try to wake him up: "Rodney! Hey! Wake up!"

A sharp intake of air was a signal that the man had come back to reality. "Whu-?"

Sheppard smiled: "Hey. Why did you faint on us? I'm the one who should have done so."

McKay growled in annoyance, but it had no real bite to it. He batted away from the man's grasp: "I did not _faint_, I lost consciousness." He then got up; shaking the dust off his pants, the said doctor thought of something. "Hey! You, the ancestor! Is there anyway that the machine may have failed?"

'_There is always a minimal chance, but I highly doubt it' _was the reply. '_I am sorry, but I do not know how the machine works exactly, as I am no scientist. I simply know of the results.'_

Sheppard sighed.

'_If you do not have any more questions, I would like to rest. I am old and tire easily.'_

They thanked the ancestor for the explanations, and left, unsure of what to think about the whole new situation.

...o.o.o...

As they walked back towards where the other scientists were, Alexander was too shocked for words. He knew that if his parents would hear of this incident, they would probably ban him from touching anything Ancient… maybe even from going on off-world missions! He stopped in panic. "Major Lorne."

The said man looked behind him. "Yes?"

Alexander writhed his hands together. "Look. We must never mention what happened with that machine, earlier."

Evan looked surprised: "Are you asking me to lie to my superior? I can't do that. Sorry, kid."

The young man's mind was spinning. "No! If you don't…." His breath hitched. "If you don't, I'll make up a story and have you deported back to Earth." He looked fixedly into the major's eyes: "Is that what you want?"

The older man frowned. Alexander wouldn't dare… but when he saw the intent look on his face, he knew this was no joke. "But why? We don't even know what this machine's purpose is. It was an accident anyways, so I don't see why you're so worried."

Alexander huffed and touched his arm where his arm still prickled from the needle earlier. "I'll come back later to study the machine further. By transferring the information to a device, I'll be able to understand better, back on Atlantis."

Lorne didn't like that situation one bit, but he had no option. He sighed and resumed the walk towards the others: "Fine, but I do hope you know what you're doing."

The young man nodded, but there was still some traces of panic in his voice: "Thank you, major. I simply wish this accident to remain a secret; I don't want to be expelled from off-world missions because of a simple accident. Like I said, give me some time to investigate that machine and everything's gonna be fine."

After that, Lorne received a message from his superior through the radio-comm: "_Major, we are pretty far from the gate, probably a few hours away. Meet us back on Atlantis."_

"Roger that." He signaled the young medic to pick up the pace. "You heard the colonel."

* * *

So! Here's chapter 3. Took a while to write, because the more I wrote, the more I wanted to put stuff in... so I ended up with a 3,680 word chapter. Huh. I have the feeling this story will get more chapters than I first intended...

I wanted to warn people that yes, this story will start slow on the McShep side, but for all the people who are annoyed (I know I am) by Jennifer Keller, she will leave half-way through the story. What? I wanted a bit of drama lol.

As always, I love reading what you think about the new chapter, so don't be afraid to review (I promise I won't bite!) :P


	4. Not sure this is normal

**Not sure this is normal**

When Sheppard's team arrived on Atlantis, it was already evening.

Alexander was with Mr Woolsey in his office when the gang entered it, showing a part of his findings on the Khajiit's planet.

Woolsey sent a look at Alexander telling him to leave, but John said that the young man could stay.

John, as calm as he could, explained what had happened during the day: the burnt village, the Khajiit, the machine… the Ancestor's answer to their question.

"So you're telling, colonel, that you encountered a... well, uh... a fertility machine?" Woolsey asked, incredulous. He linked his hands together, thinking about all of this; he knew how Alexander came to existence, but he hadn't thought about this happening in their own dimension.

Sheppard nodded, but not with much assurance. In fact, he felt as though his shoulder weighted a ton.

Alexander tried to lighten the mood: "So that means I'll soon have a little brother or sister?" he said, with a smile in the corner of his mouth.

Rodney rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But can you believe it? That... creature that the Khajiits call 'Ancestor' said that it rarely failed!" McKay nearly yelled.

Teyla put a hand on Rodney's arm to calm him down and added: "Well, the Khajiits have been doing this ritual for quite a while now, so they should know if the machine works well or not. However, I think that a medical exam should confirm or not the... pregnancy." She sent a look at Sheppard, with a comforting smile.

Mr Woolsey looked at the team, which looked dead tired and declared: "Then a medical exam for you and Rodney is in order and we'll be able to see more clearly what is to await us. You may now all leave for the infirmary for your post-mission exam." He then turned to Alexander: "Now let's finish this, what were you saying?"

...o.o.o...

"I guess we could say that you're fine, lad. I did find some 'dead' or unactivated nanites, but I saw nothing else wrong in the scan, and the needle that pricked you didn't seem to leave a mark." Carson put down his PDA he had just used to jot down some results.

"Deactivated nanites?"

A nod. "Yes, it seems as though they did not activate the way they were supposed to. The machine on the planet was old, so it probably malfunctioned, thus sending nanites that did not do their purpose."

A small, very small, part of John felt disappointed, while the other part was relieved that the Lantean machine hadn't worked. "Thanks, Carson" he said, with a smile. He then slid down from the bed used for the Ancient scanner.

After writing more notes on the PDA, Carson looked at the other: "Well then, colonel, you know the procedure..." he started.

With an amused smile, John completed the sentence: "Yeah, yeah. If I feel any different I must come down to the infirmary to get it checked out."

"Good!" and with a friendly slap on the colonel's shoulder, Carson went further into the room to check on another patient.

John didn't budge for a while, his mind blank. Then, he shook himself mentally and left for his quarters. Tired by the whole incident, he decided that his official report could wait until morning.

On his way, of course, he met a very worried McKay, who immediately asked about the medical exam. Blue eyes wide open, he waited for the dreaded answer.

"False alarm. Doc found nothing." He then frowned: "I don't understand, though. The Khajiits said that it rarely failed."

McKay waved his hand in dismissal. "Who cares? It's probably one of those rare times!"

Sheppard just shrugged and started to walk, continuing his way.

As he walked, he could feel a presence behind him, so he stopped. And someone crashed into his back. Without turning around, he asked, irritated: "What do you want, McKay?" He hated being followed like that.

But Rodney didn't answer instantly, like he usually did.

So John resumed his journey.

And Rodney followed.

And so, John stopped _again_. This time, he turned around to face the scientist, but said nothing and waited.

An awkward minute passed before Rodney turned around to leave.

"Oh no you don't!" Sheppard said and grabbed the other man's arm: "Dammit Rodney, spit it out!"

The scientist frowned strangely, but reverted back to his normal self almost instantly: "How are you... feeling?"

This took John by surprise. "Huh?"

Rodney sighed exasperatedly and, not without his trademark eye roll, clarified: "Are you okay, I mean, after all what happened? With Carson's diagnostic?"

Sheppard eyed two marines on patrol that were approaching and greeted them politely, waiting for them to walk away; during that short moment, he tried to decide if he should tell Rodney what he really thought. When the soldiers were away from earshot, he faced answered: "I'm okay, I guess." There, good old 'nonchalant Sheppard' attitude.

Even though Rodney didn't seem convinced, he didn't add or prod further, which relieved John.

They parted after that and John could only think about the other man's question. Ever since they came back into the Pegasus galaxy, Rodney had been rather distant; they would rarely chat or just hang out anymore. John knew that Jennifer took a lot of Rodney's time, but he'd like her to share a bit more. But that question he had just asked, it was out of the ordinary. He shrugged and continued his way.

As he arrived in front of his door, he scoffed: he wished that Heightmeyer was still alive so he could talk with her and help him clear his mind. He didn't really like the new psychologist that had been hired before they left Earth; she was too… flirtatious with him.

But since Heightmeyer wasn't there to help, he opted for a quick shower before crashing into bed.

...o.o.o...

The day after, John woke up, feeling refreshed, and got dressed before going to the mess hall.

Surprised, as he didn't see any of the members of his team, he sat down at an empty table with his breakfast. It was only when he took a look at his watch that he almost choked on his food. It was nine o'clock; he usually got up at 07:00 so he could eat calmly without hearing McKay rant, but now the said man would come in soon. He deduced that maybe he was more tired then what he first thought the night before.

As he finished eating, he spotted Alexander coming into the mess hall and he couldn't stop himself from smiling at the young man's appearance: hair more than tousled, eyes still half-closed, and shirt put on backwards. A fresh I-fell-out-of-bed look.

So the man walked closer to his almost-son and tousled even more his dark brown hair.

"Mom! Stop that!" Alexander whined, pushing back the evil hand on his head.

So Sheppard whispered close to him and snickered: "Oh and by the way, nice shirt. Got dressed up in the dark?"

Alexander's eyes finally snapped open, sleep leaving entirely as he looked down. "Oh man..."

John left the mess hall with a grin on his face after putting away his empty tray.

...o.o.o...

As he sat at his desk, John was going to write his report. Yup.

"Okay!" he said with his pen in his hand, but he found out that he couldn't concentrate and didn't know where to start. He blamed it on the mess that was his desk.

So, he started by classifying the papers into piles. Then, he put all the paper clips into a little pile too. Then... Then what? He had his report to write. He hadn't written anything yet, so he couldn't take a break... _yet_.

Putting the end of the pen in his mouth and leaning back into the chair with his hands behind his head, his mind wandered to the medical exam. How would things be if they had been positive and he'd be... pregnant? Just the fact that he was thinking about it weirded him out… a little.

He then frowned: but the question that he really didn't have an answer to was, how Rodney would have reacted? The night before, he had seemed relieved that the results were negative. His next thought brought him back to when Alexander first came to Atlantis. Rodney had first felt weirded out, but eventually fit in and felt some kind of pride at his 'almost-son'. What could have caused such a difference in reaction now? That, Sheppard didn't know. Well... he wasn't exactly clueless... Partly, it was because of Jennifer, but there probably was something else that he couldn't pinpoint. He scoffed: "Whatever."

He looked down at the empty sheet and groaned: why things couldn't be simpler?

...o.o.o...

Alexander tried to focus on his medical readings, but something was nagging his mind. What had been told in Woolsey's office, about that damned machine... he felt like he should worry about it. That would mean that major Lorne and him...

He then started to panic: they had checked his mom all over to make sure the machine hadn't worked. But since it wasn't public knowledge that he also was a victim to the machine... he had only gone through a normal check-up when he came back from MRT-044, so Carson didn't notice anything amiss. He broke into cold sweats as he imagined all the consequences it would bring. He was doomed!

"Come on, dude... gotta take deep breaths..." he said out loud, trying to calm down. He breathed slowly, not wanting to hyperventilate like his dad usually did. "That's it, take a grip..."

He then pushed back the medical book he had been trying to read. Getting up, he decided to go on the mainland. Maybe a little swim would do him some good.

...o.o.o...

Rodney, sitting on an uncomfortable stool, twitched on his seat. Even though it was ten in the morning, there was very little people present in the laboratories.

He hadn't been able to get some sleep for most part of the night. All his thoughts went to the damned Lantean machine and Sheppard... and the medical results. Then his thoughts went to Alexander; the boy had reacted strangely when they had been informed of the machine's purpose.

Alexander... it was weird that he came back. He could remember when he first came to Atlantis. It had been quite the adventure; but he would do it all again. But if Sheppard's tests would have been positive... He scowled, not really knowing what to think if they would be in that situation.

... It wasn't that he didn't want kids... it was because it was Sheppard... Sheppard and his stupid flyboy smile... and Jennifer, sweet Jennifer. He did love her-

He was then cut out from his thoughts when arms encircled his waist from behind.

"Hey... how are you? You weren't in bed this morning..."

It was _her_. Rodney answered hastily: "Huh, yeah. Couldn't sleep, I guess. So I got up to get some work done instead."

"Come back to bed with me, then" Jennifer said, with a suggestive tone.

However, Rodney didn't pick up the suggestion, so he answered flatly: "Can't. Got work to do. A lot of things happened when we were off-world and Radek tried to manage, but failed miserably. So now I have to fix _his_ mess."

Jennifer didn't say anything from being turned down, but she declared, with some hope in her voice: "My shift ends at 9pm, so I'll see you tonight, then?"

"Yeah, okay" Rodney answered nonchalantly.

He sighed as she left; he knew that he wouldn't be able to work for the whole day with that state of mind.

...o.o.o...

It was only a week later that Sheppard started to feel weird. It first started in the morning; when he'd get out of bed, if he'd stand up too fast, he'd get dizzy. He dismissed it as sleeping too much.

Then, it was breakfast; he didn't feel like eating, so he'd throw the rest of the tray in the garbage.

And then, on top of everything, something weird happened during a meeting with some new recruits. He was giving a crash course on how to survive in different situations while on off-world missions, when he had to stop talking because he was getting out of breath. He then frowned, because one rarely loses breath over talking like he had been.

The recruits, were starting to wonder what was wrong with their superior, so to reassure them, Sheppard quickly blurted out: "Errr... sorry it's my… asthma acting out..."

Nods could be seen in the room and thus the meeting continued without interruption.

It's only a little later, when the recruits were leaving the room that Sheppard let his guard down and let worry claim him. He tried to assess the situation as best as he could. Asthma was probably the problem: dizziness had even been seen in some severe cases. But how could he have a case this severe in such a short amount of time? He'd better ask Carson about it. Taking all of his stuff, he was headed in the infirmary's direction.

After two minutes of walk, he chose to take a nap, instead; maybe after sleeping a bit, he would feel better. He knew he should have gone to see the doctor straight away, but he was too tired.

When he got up, he was fine, so he decided to wait a bit before alerting Carson. Maybe it was nothing after all... at least he hoped it was.

...o.o.o...

Three weeks later; it was then that Sheppard discovered that his dizziness and nausea weren't due to asthma. No. It was when he puked his guts for the third morning in line that it all fell into place: the machine had worked after all. Took by a bout of panic, he sat on the floor of his little bathroom, his body shaking from the exertion of vomiting.

He then covered his face with his hands, feeling ashamed about the situation, even though no one was watching. It was exactly four weeks since that incident on the Khajiit planet. It couldn't be something else like a stomach bug, there were too many signs. He got up from the floor and rinsed his mouth with some water.

Deciding to lie down, he moved to his bed. He then looked up at the ceiling with the fierce intent of burning it with his mind.

"Stupid diagnostic." Why did it always had to fall on him. Rodney was right; he was always out of luck.

And suddenly, he had the urge to punch himself in the stomach; but he didn't do it, because he could not hurt an innocent life. Not after waking up the Wraiths, killing thousands of innocent people.

He punched the bed instead. "Urgh! What am I gonna do?"

He tried to think of a solution. Talking to Carson about it would result in his secret being made public. He couldn't risk that. Jennifer was also out of the question. The military should never be informed of this; they'd probably send him to Area 51 or something like that. But he had to make sure that he really was pregnant and not suffering from something else.

He suddenly got an idea, so he got up and dressed up for that new day.

...o.o.o...

"With all due respect, sir, why can't _you_ do it?"

Sheppard quickly answered: "Well, you see, I don't want anyone to learn about it... especially if it's a false alarm, you know, that kind of stuff..." He didn't finish his sentence, trying to sound sincere.

The soldier nodded. "Yeah. Okay, but what are you giving me in exchange? I don't mind lying, saying that _I _probably impregnated an alien woman, but..." he said with a grin. "There are some rumours that you have a secret stash of various goods from Earth..."

John faked a scowl: "Mhmm. Ok, fine, but you can't tell anyone, right?" This was too easy. Way too easy.

...o.o.o...

And that's how he found himself, in his bathroom, with a pregnancy test in hand, a few days later. He chuckled at his own cleverness; the soldier really thought that he needed him to get a test for his 'pregnant alien girlfriend' without anyone knowing. However, he didn't know if this would be a reliable test to determine a pregnancy such as his, but he had to try anyway.

As he waited for the required time, he drummed his fingers against his bathroom counter. He bit his lip with nervousness.

He looked at the stick, even though the time wasn't up yet; there already was an angry 'plus' sign glaring at him on the little screen. Slowly, with shaking hands, he looked on the test's box to make sure of what it meant.

He exhaled loudly. He was pregnant.

A cold feeling creeped up from his heels to the top of his head, like a cold wind. There was no use of denying it like before. It almost brought tears to his eyes. But he couldn't let them fall. He had to think about his future now. _Their_ future; he wasn't alone anymore. He put back the test in its box and putting both hands around the sink, he looked at himself in the mirror above it.

He didn't look any different yet. But it wouldn't be long before it would. He would have to stop his off-world missions soon; they were too dangerous and unpredictable for him to continue. And he couldn't tell anyone about it either, otherwise he could get in trouble. He was a freak of nature.

He wanted to be happy about the whole thing, really. But anxiety about the uncertainty of what the future held had a stronger grip on him than anything else.

He turned on the cold water faucet, and rinsed his face, trying to get a hold of his emotions. He had a mission to attend to, in less than two hours. He needed to finish preparing his backpack before leaving.

Thankfully, it was only a visit with some usual traders; that wouldn't require much from him.

* * *

A/N: Hi there people! I hope you're enjoying this story like I do lol. Oh and by the way, the part where Sheppard thinks it's asthma, well I suffer from allergic asthma and when I don't take my medication, I get dizzy from not getting enough oxygen when I breathe and eventually I feel nauseous because of the dizziness. My doctor said that it wasn't common, but not rare either.

So many words, yet so little is happening in this chapter! :O

This chapter was 80%, so that's why I updated only 2 days later hehe. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this chapter!


	5. Did I forget to tell you?

**Did I forget to tell you?**

"Sir, I request the permission to go back to MRT-044. If you see no objection with that, I'd like to go back see the Khajiits and talk to the Ancestor team SGA-01 talked about. I'm very curious as to their customs and such. Of course, this is a personal request, I won't be needing a team for this" Alexander asked Woolsey, in the man's office. He stood tall, to hide his nervousness; he could only hope that the leader of Atlantis would agree.

"I wouldn't mind, I'll call Lorne so he assemble his team and-"

"No!" the young man cut in. He quickly saw his rudeness, so he continue: "I'm sorry for my impoliteness, but I meant that I can travel alone; I've done it numerous times in my own dimension."

Woolsey sat back in his chair: "I understand, son. But here it's different. For the safety of everyone, teams are necessary. I won't go back on this. It's the only condition to fulfill if you wish to go."

Alexander quickly tried to come up with a solution; he didn't want Lorne to come with him. He had been able to avoid the man for almost two months (which was a feat, since the city was not _that_ big) and didn't want to speak with him… _yet._ He then thought of something: "If I ask Ronon to come with me, would it be okay?"

Woolsey nodded reluctantly. "I guess it's better than no one. But wouldn't you like to bring a scientist with you?"

"No, it'll be fine. I simply wish to converse with them and learn about their story, and take a look at their Ancient technology as well. This way, we'll be able to fill out the database" he finished with a confident smile.

So after asking Ronon to come with him, Alexander was set to leave for MRT-044 for the day. He had brought equipment to analyze the fertility machine; now with a screen to read on, since the one on the Lantean apparatus was broken, he would be able to decipher how it worked.

...o.o.o...

As they neared the machine, Ronon who was not the type to talk much asked Alexander if he was doing okay.

"Yeah, of course" the young man answered. He was actually struggling with an annoying headache since morning. "Why do you ask?"

The Satedan shrugged. "Dunno, there's been something off about you, lately."

Cold sweats were taking over Alexander's usually collected mind. "Really? Huh, I don't know what to say about that" he said, with a nervous laugh at the end. Had the tall Satedan really notice his pregnancy? No, it couldn't be; he had been extra careful.

"Sheppard and McKay are also acting weird these days."

"You think so?" They finally got to the Ancient device, so the young man put down his equipment. "So here is that infamous object," he said, as if he had never seen that object in his life; memories of the mission and Lorne flashed in his mind. He took out his computer and some wires to connect it to the machine and then continued with what Ronon had said: "Well for me, they _alway_s have been acting weird. Here, Mom and Dad are not together, and Dad is with Jennifer. That's so not what I've grown up with, in _my_ universe."

"What do you mean?"

It was Alexander's turn to shrug: "Here, it's like they're made for each other, and yet, something's keeping them apart." He sighed: "I had hoped, before returning here, that they would have gone over that… obstacle." Typing in something on his laptop: "Okay, let's see what it's saying." The young man focused on what had been transferred from the Lantean computer. He went quickly through the information written in Ancient language. "I'll need to go back to Atlantis where there is a better translation program, but from what I can read, it seems that they use nanites with a medical programing; with that, they create an artificial womb that contains both sets of DNAs."

"Huh… I see?" Ronon grimaced.

Alexander laughed. After a light beeping sound, he unplugged his laptop from the machine. "Okay, now I needed to have a small talk with the ancestor of the Khajiits. I want more information to put into the database, back at the city. Then, we can go back home at the end of the day."

The Satedan nodded.

...o.o.o...

A few days later, in his room, Sheppard dreaded the moment he would rise, as this would bring the loathed morning sickness. He had to get up to prepare for an off-world mission, his last one... at least, in his mind it was his last one. If he wanted to hide his pregnancy, he would have to quit off-world missions, and soon leave Atlantis for good. His plan was to go back to Earth and settle in a small city, where he could continue his pregnancy without raising suspicion from his team.

He sat up carefully in his bed, not wanting to provoke dizziness and nausea; he thought he had succeeded, but when he stood at full height, his stomach churned and he had to dash to his small bathroom connected to his bedroom.

Throwing himself in front of the toilet bowl, he emptied his stomach ungracefully; cursing that wretched Ancient technology, he continued to throw up until nothing was left.

...o.o.o...

As for Alexander, he maybe had it a bit easier than John, but the headaches were killing him. His morning sickness wasn't bad, thankfully; if he was careful enough, he would simply have a nausea that would stick all day, but he wouldn't throw up.

The young man didn't know how long he could hide his condition. It would be a matter of time before his strange behaviors would be noticed. Even though he could blame the extreme hunger and the sleeping habits on his youth hormones, he could not hide the nausea and the strange food choice.

It had been already been more than a month since the accident with the machine, and he hadn't found an escape plan yet. At first he wanted to return to his own reality, but then he thought that maybe his mom wouldn't like getting the bad news. Sure, his parents had lived this same kind of situation, but his mom was a lot older when he got pregnant. Not twenty. And not a single parent.

He got up to get dressed. He was going to accompany team SGA-01 for a simple trading mission. John had mentioned that it would do him some good to get out of the labs and get some sun. He hadn't had the heart to tell his 'mom' that he had been hiding there because of his pregnancy; hopefully, the mission would stay _simple_.

...o.o.o...

John couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness as they waited the gate to be dialed. Now that the morning sickness had made its presence acknowledged for a few weeks, it almost scared him to leave Atlantis, by fear of something happening. He knew to never push his luck too far; Rodney always told him that he didn't have much to begin with.

Woolsey said something but Sheppard had tuned him out the moment he had commanded to dial the gate address. He breathed in deeply.

As the team walked through the gate, he could only cross his fingers and hope that this last mission would go smoothly.

...o.o.o...

The moment they crossed the gate, they all felt that something was off. First, usually there was a villager that would greet them, especially if a meeting had been scheduled. Second, the flowers of the garden surrounding the gate, which was always kept neat, seemed to be falling apart, as if they hadn't been taking care of in a while.

"Let's be on the lookout" Ronon suggested, hand on his gun.

Sheppard nodded and they continued their way towards the village.

Hoping that all would go well, so that they could all go home soon.

...o.o.o...

But as they arrived to the said village, their journey to hell started.

Walking along the main road, they heard someone shouting: "Hey you! Where do you think are? You have no right to enter this village!"

They all turned around, to see a tall man, in his late thirties. He was carrying a shotgun look-alike, pointed at them.

"We're allies, we _do_ have the right to walk here!" Rodney yelled. He was confused, as he didn't understand the presence of the gun.

The time it took for Sheppard to tell Rodney to shut up, they were all encircled by soldiers with their gun raised.

"What the hell is happening?" McKay whispered in panic.

"You are trespassers to this village, and we don't like that." The man, who seemed to be their leader, pointed at the Atlantis team and told his soldiers: "Take their weapons. Throw them in the dungeons of the old castle and we'll deal with them later on." He spat on the ground.

He turned around, ready to leave, when he stopped: "And don't hurt them too much, I'd like them able to answer a few of my questions."

Sheppard froze at that. Damn, this was going to get dangerous for him.

...o.o.o...

Ronon was thrown on the cell ground. With his bindings, he could only struggle to get free. The guards had seen true to restrain the 'big guy' and attach his hands and feet.

Teyla and Alexander followed silently, but Rodney had to be threatened with a gun to make him shut up and enter the cell.

Sheppard had it more rough; he winced as he was kicked in the abdomen and pushed down on the ground by one of the guards. He rolled on his side so that he didn't fall on his stomach.

"Now you'll be waiting here until it is decided what will happen with you" a guard shouted.

As the barred door closed with a loud thud, Rodney threw himself at it and shouted back: "How _dare_ you treat us like that? We're allies!" But it all fell on deaf ears as the other guards started to snicker, walking away. "Stupid grunts!" he said between clenched teeth.

Alexander put a hand on his father's shoulder: "Dad, calm down. Shouting like this can only bring more trouble."

Rodney looked at his son and then at Teyla, the ever present voice of reason, and gave up. At least he had tried.

John, still on the floor, slightly panicked as he didn't know if the hit would affect the baby; the kick he received was just above his navel and it hurt like hell.

"Are you okay, colonel?" Teyla asked, now concentrated on her leader, seeing that the man was not reacting well.

"Mom?" Alexander asked, a bit worried at his mother's lack of response. He hovered around him, not knowing what to do.

John swallowed loudly, his mouth suddenly dry and his throat tight with emotion. He nodded instead of answering, being easier to do; he was afraid to talk and divulge his dark secret.

"Oh come on, Teyla. Sheppard can handle much more than that" Rodney mocked, from where he was, still at the cell door.

Teyla didn't listen to Rodney as she lowered herself and gently took the colonel by the shoulders: "What's wrong? Did the guard hit something? A rib?" She could see that fear had a claim on him.

He shook his head in a negative manner, but still couldn't formulate an answer, and clenched his teeth.

Ronon took this seriously and crawled closer to take a better look, even with his bindings restraining him.

Rodney could only roll his eyes at the whole display. "Okay, fine. So what's wrong with poor little colonel Sheppard?" he said, a bit impatiently.

The concerned man shot a glare filled with anger at the scientist, but said nothing.

"Dad. Stop that" Alexander added. "Now's not the time."

An uncomfortable silence quickly filled the small cell.

Teyla, with all the tack she could muster, tried to examine the colonel further, but her hands were pushed back by the man.

Rodney was taken aback by Sheppard's harsh response. That's when he took the matters into his own hands and asked brusquely: "Look, Sheppard. Are you going to tell us why you're acting all weird? You were kicked to the ground. You didn't die here."

Sheppard, now shook back to reality, barked: "You wanna know what's wrong?"

Rodney didn't say anything, suddenly regretting he had angered the colonel. He stepped back, in fear.

"I'll tell you what's wrong! I've been hit in the stomach-"

"-like many times before!" McKay threw in, his short temper kicking in.

_'but unlike all those times...'_ John wanted to continue, but couldn't. He didn't want to reveal his secret yet. But he was afraid he'd have to, now having said too much.

Everyone was listening carefully at their colonel's outburst.

Alexander was the only one who had an idea of what his mother was going to say; with a strong reaction like this to a hit in the abdomen... He put a hand quickly on his own, but retreated because he didn't want to raise suspicion.

"Are you gonna spit it out?" the Canadian said, impatiently.

Sheppard lowered his gaze to the floor, somehow feeling ashamed of himself: "I'm pregnant."

Rodney felt as though someone punched him in the gut too. It took him a few seconds to be able to talk again: "What?"

John looked up: "I said-"

"No no, I understood _very well_...! But what the hell do you mean by that?" Rodney put his hands on his head, ready to tear his hair off. That's it, he was turning crazy.

"Didn't Carson confirmed that the machine had not done its purpose?" Teyla asked, her brows furrowed.

Alexander stared at his mother, flabbergasted. It had worked on him too... That could only mean that people would start getting suspicious about other members of the team getting pregnant and they would probably find out about his own dirty little secret.

John continued: "I just hope that this kick didn't hurt the- the… it." His didn't know if he should cry or be angry at himself; his emotions were all across the room.

Rodney's mind ran a hundred miles an hour. A thought then crossed his thoughts: "And _when_ did you intend to tell us? It's been what- two months since that mission?"

John didn't want to answer; his secret was out and he wanted to kick himself for it.

Seeing that the -pregnant, oh god he couldn't believe it- man was in his own little world, the scientist spoke louder, not being able to contain his anger: "Sheppard! Answer me! Since when do you know about this... _pregnancy?_"

Ronon didn't like how things were going, so he took the matter in his own hands. He pushed slightly McKay: "Shut up. If we bring attention to ourselves, we could be in much deeper shit than you think we actually are." He then, for a good measure, glared angrily at the scientist to make sure he got it.

McKay quickly raised both hands in defeat, but added: "Fine. But you won't stop me from disagreeing with this whole unnatural event!"

"I think you should stop talking now, Dr. McKay." It was now Teyla who had enough of the scientist's temper. "We should focus our energy on finding a way out." When she paused, she knew the scientist wanted to retort with something, so she immediately continued: "And _when _we get back, we'll have things to... discuss." She then turned to Sheppard, with a knowing look, "Right, colonel?"

He nodded, now feeling guilty for not telling them. He covered his face with his hands: "Fucking emotional roller coaster..."

Alexander sighed and sat down by John and side-hugged him. "It's okay, mom. Don't worry. We'll find a way out."

"So now what?" Rodney said, defeated.

"We wait. We'll see then" the tall Satedan said.

Everyone groaned inwardly, not liking the idea, but having nothing else to do instead.

"Undo those ties, they're annoying me" Ronon finally said.

Teyla and Alexander helped him.

Sheppard was still sitting on the ground, his knees to his chin; he shivered at the cold in Rodney's gaze, fixed on him.

* * *

Hey there everyone! Sorry for the late update; being a teacher, the end of the school year is very busy for me. I hardly had some time alone to write, with my lil'bro moving out of the house and grading papers, work and some other stuff.

So here, Sheppard's big secret is out! :D next chapter will continue with the team as prisoners. Will they escape safely?


	6. Establishing some limits

**Establishing some limits**

"Rodney, could you please stop burning the back of my head with your eyes?" Sheppard said through gritted teeth. He was facing the only wall who had a very small barred window, hoping to understand what's going outside.

The scientist let out a 'humph', but said nothing.

Alexander wanted to tear his hair off. "Oh will you two stop it? Stupid tension" he growled, patience running low. "It's like watching two kids fight." Nausea had been bugging him since morning, so he had skipped breakfast, but he was starting to regret it, as he was famished.

They had been waiting in that smelly old cell for a few hours already.

Teyla and Ronon were sitting against the other wall, waiting for something to happen.

In the background, other prisoners in the dungeons could be heard, also unsatisfied by their situation.

"Colonel, do you see anything unusual outside?" the Athosian asked, bored of just sitting there.

John shrugged: "Meh, nothing as of yet. But I'll keep watching."

"I wonder what they want from us" Alexander stated out loud, pacing around the small cell.

"Well isn't it _obvious_?" McKay started. "They simply want to kill some innocent people, just for the sake of violence" he said, with a bite in his voice. And he rolled his eyes, just for good measure.

Teyla brought in another suggestion: "Maybe they simply want to make sure we are no threat to the village's new leader. It would only be logical."

Ronon shrugged: "I don't really care. I just wanna get the hell out of here."

"Wait! Something's up! There's people starting to shout… and assemble!" Sheppard exclaimed, from where he was, at the window. Which resulted in the team rushing towards him in order to watch.

Then there was a loud rumble, like a large door being forced open.

"What do we do now?" McKay asked, slightly jittery.

Shaking their barred doors, the other prisoners were yelling to be freed, which caught Ronon's ear. "Something's up."

Some people started to walk down the stairs and into the dungeons.

"Keep sharp. Maybe this will be our way out" Sheppard said.

McKay sent an annoyed look at Sheppard, but stood straight nonetheless; they had to get out as fast as possible.

From afar, the team could hear the sounds of keys clinging together and iron doors opening.

"It looks like they are freeing the prisoners" Teyla mentioned.

Rodney scoffed. "Well hopefully it's not to lead them to their executioner!"

Sheppard slapped Rodney on the shoulder. "Stop being such a damn pessimist. They don't have the soldiers' uniforms. They seem more like rebels to me..."

There was more shouting, but this time from the liberators. "You're all free! Now join us in our fight against those monsters! Let's take back what's ours!"

The team gasped; that voice, it was the previous leader of the village, Brelof.

When someone appeared out of nowhere, in front of their cell door, the team stood their ground, ready for anything.

"Who are you?" the stranger said.

Everyone hesitated.

Teyla said smoothly: "We came here to visit to the villagers, our friends. But we were captured and thrown into this cell for no apparent reason."

The man looked surprised: "Oh so you're friends with Brelof?" When they nodded, he added: "Yes, those uniforms of yours, I think I remember them. Well, I don't see a point in keeping you here." The man took a key from the key-holder and unlocked the cell: "You're free. Now please help us liberate the other prisoners. Most of our people have been thrown in cells. So they're innocents." He threw McKay a set of keys and left hurriedly.

Rodney looked up from his hands to the gang: "What do we do?"

"We get out of here" Ronon said first.

"We should finish freeing the prisoners" Teyla countered. "We were given the chance to be free, so we must repay the debt."

Ronon's stance changed. "It's more important for to leave now, before anything else happens." He looked intently at Sheppard.

Understanding the underlying message in the tall man's sentence, John decided nonetheless to help out the prisoners in their cell. "We'll just do this real quick and then we'll leave. We can't let some innocents rot in here."

Teyla sent a small smile at her superior, mouthing a 'thank you' for taking her side of the debate.

Sheppard nodded. "Okay, let's go."

...o.o.o...

"You know, if it weren't for those stupid rebels, we'd be celebrating right now."

A scoff. "Yeah, what a pain in the ass."

"But at least we have those nice weapons the boss gave us."

Two soldiers were guarding the door to one of the dungeons' corridors, and they had Ronon's gun, as well as a P-90. Behind them was a small armory room, which they also kept an eye on.

The team was walking along the corridor perpendicular to the door's. Since they didn't have their weapons, they couldn't do much. They would have to attack and take out the two guards at the same time, so no one would ring the alarm.

Sheppard signaled the others to follow him; they withdrew to a safer place, where they could at least whisper without alerting the guards.

"Okay, you guys ready? Ronon, you take out the one on the left, and I'll take the-"

"No-no-no-no-no!" Rodney interrupted hastily.

"What?" Sheppard sent an annoyed look at the scientist.

"Mr Mom, I am sorry, but you are _not_ fighting." He jerked his thumb in the Athosian woman's direction: "Teyla will do it."

She nodded and turned around to leave, when she was stopped by her commander's voice.

"Wait!" Sheppard whispered harshly. He turned to Rodney with a more-than-annoyed glare: "I _can_ fight. I'm no invalid."

An argument was about to explode, Alexander knew it, so he put his hands on both men's shoulders, and explained as calmly as he could: "Now is not the time to argue, mom, just let Teyla do it." He groaned inwardly at having to play mediator with those two.

Tension lowered when John nodded reluctantly.

It took no more than a few seconds and some well executed movements from Teyla and Ronon and both guards were on the ground unconscious. They took back their weapons from the soldiers and went through the small armory to find the other P-90s, as well as the rest of their equipment.

"Okay, now let's hurry before other guards find us" Sheppard said, as he put on his pocketed vest.

However, they didn't have time to get out of the room that explosions were heard, leaving the floor and ceiling shaking.

"What the hell?" McKay shouted. "Are they trying to get everyone killed?"

"It's probably the rebels. They want to get their village back-"

The castle floor started to get loose under their feet; floor tiles were starting to uneven the ground and a part of the room was falling in the story below them.

A mix of terror and fright was apparent in their eyes; things were getting dangerous.

"Run!" was the only thing Sheppard said.

Adrenaline was pumping into their veins, giving them the energy to survive through the sounds of the collapsing castle. They were able to find some stairs and climb them before having the steps fall under them.

When they came to a dead end, however, things got hectic. The hallway was a story above ground; they could see outside by looking through the loophole on the wall.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?" McKay yelled hysterically. He grabbed Sheppard by his vest and added: "We're all gonna die!"

Thankfully, the ground and the walls gradually stopped shaking, giving them a respite from the run they had done.

John knew that a panicking Rodney wouldn't do them any good. So he also grabbed Rodney by his vest: "No we're not. We just have to find a way to-"

Alexander looked around the arrow slit to check if the wall was too strong to take it down. His eyes widened in panic; through the small wall opening, he could see a large boulder being catapulted in their direction. He quickly got out of the way yelling: "Move! A boulder!"

"What?" both scientist and colonel, dropped what they were doing.

It took a fraction of a second for John to realize what the young man had said. He had enough time to push his friend to the ground when the large stone destroyed the wall and entered the castle. However he wasn't fast enough to evade it, thus it grazed his left shoulder, dislocating it, and pushed him to the wall next to him.

Both men fell to the floor, John on top of Rodney. The rock continued its way down the hallway, following gravity.

Teyla rushed to help them get up, but when she touched the colonel's left arm, he winced.

"Argh I know that feeling" he said, in pain, as he stood on his feet. "It's dislocated."

Alexander wanted to help out his mother, but Ronon stopped him. "We should leave now before it starts collapsing again."

McKay dusted himself up. "Well, at least we now have a way out of this place."

Ronon looked down the now holed wall, trying to judge the height. "We'll just need to throw a rope down and we should be fine."

Teyla judged the height as well: "Colonel, do you think you'll be fine with that dislocated shoulder?"

The man nodded. "It hurts like hell, but I'd rather be safe outside before anything else. I'll just need to secure it against my body to make sure the pain doesn't worsen much."

Alexander questioned that choice: "But if we try to put it back into its socket, it would take only a couple of minutes and the pain would lessen a lot."

Everyone looked at their team leader, curious of his answer. There was no way of telling if another projectile would set off the building again, so they had to act quick: "Fine, but let's hurry."

"Okay, now mom, raise your forearm at a 90 degree angle in front of you, and bring it against your torso." He guided the other slowly.

McKay shuddered at the sight and sound of the arm popping back into its socket.

Taking a sling from their medical kit, Alexander helped John secure his arm in it. He exhaled loudly: "Okay, _now_ we can get the hell outta here."

Attaching a rope to the giant boulder, they were able to descend the wall safely. Thankfully, it was only one level above ground so it didn't take much time.

As the last person touched the ground, a burden off their shoulders disappeared.

"Now" Sheppard started, with a hint of sarcasm, "we only have half a day of walk to get back to the gate."

...o.o.o...

"I don't feel so well..." the colonel said, feeling dizzy.

"And why didn't you tell us sooner?" Rodney asked, none too gently. His feet hurt and wasn't in the mood to deal with Sheppard anymore.

Coming to an halt, they all waited for John to say if he felt better or not.

Looking around, Ronon declared: "We should settle camp here. It's going to be nightfall soon and we still have some hours of walking to do before reaching the gate."

"What? But we're almost there!" Rodney whined. Even though he didn't like to exercise much, he liked sleeping in the wild even less. "And we didn't even pack some sleeping bags!"

"The days are short and nights, long. We don't have much choice" the tall man replied, leaving no place to complain.

McKay spun around to face the colonel: "Well _thank you_, Sheppard. Now we'll have to sleep in the wild."

Rodney's bad mood had burned away all of John's patience: "You're welcomed! But thank _you_, Rodney, for getting me in that _stupid_ machine and getting me ...!"

Sheppard's monologue had been halted by Alexander, who had come in front of him with a disapproving look. "Please stop. You're all red in the face, which means that your blood pressure is probably too high at the moment for your own good."

"I-I don't feel so well..." Sheppard repeated after being pushed down, sitting on a nearby rock.

"Mom. Look at me now. Breathe in deeply" Alexander said, keeping a hand on the other man's shoulder. And he breathed with John, trying to coax him in doing the same. "Okay, now exhale slowly through your mouth and keep your chin high." When everything was good, he urged him to repeat the process. "It's probably because we haven't eaten in a while, adding to all that stress we've been put under since we left this morning. We should find something to eat."

Rodney rose an eyebrow. "Okay and then what? We also have to set camp."

"Thanks for the intel, captain Obvious" Ronon shot.

The scientist made an annoyed face: "Who's the smartass who taught him that?"

"It was you, dad."

Everyone snickered.

Rodney crossed his arms in annoyance.

Catching him by the shoulders, the Satedan said with a laugh: "Come on, McKay. We'll go hunt." He then looked at Alexander and Teyla: "Wanna join us?"

"No thanks. I will go and gather wood to build a fire" Teyla answered.

"And I'll stay here with mom."

Sheppard was too preoccupied with breathing in and out to retort something about being called 'mom' again.

"If it suits you, then." Ronon said with barely contained eagerness. "Let's go, McKay!"

Dragging his feet on the forest floor, Rodney followed suite, leaving three members of the team alone.

"I will go fetch some wood, like I said," Teyla declared as she got up. "Alexander, are you coming with me, or do you wish to stay with the colonel?"

Alexander weighed his options. He didn't want to exert himself trying to transport wood, and he knew that it would appear strange for him to stay put. "Y'know, I think we are due for some mother and son time." He then flashed a charming smile at the Athosian woman.

She chuckled: "Oh Alexander, you are much like the colonel."

Sheppard then frowned. "Hey, what does that mean?" he asked playfully.

Teyla shrugged: "That 'flyboy' smile, as Dr McKay calls it. Always used when wanting to have your own way with something. Especially with women, and they can't resist it." And she left, laughing softly.

...o.o.o...

"You see, McKay, we simply have to take the rope and attach it this way…" Ronon was explaining, but Rodney wasn't listening. The only thing he could think of was the situation they were now in. Cold sweats ran down his back as he realized that they would have to inform Woolsey of this. And Jennifer… "Oh god, Jennifer" he mumbled unintentionally, eyes widening with panic. What was he going to tell her?

The Satedan frowned, when he tried to ask a question and noted that Rodney wasn't answering. He then noticed the disturbed expression in his eyes. Rising an eyebrow, he threw: "You saw a ghost, McKay?" and snapped his fingers in front of the other's face impatiently.

It was enough to bring the scientist back to reality. He looked up, confused: "Huh, sorry, I was just lost in thoughts."

Ronon humphed and smirked: "Thinking about _Sheppard_?" he said, with a slight rise of the voice at the last word, insinuating something. He finished tying the rope, making sure it was tight.

Still kind of dazed, Rodney nodded unconsciously at the sentence. He then frowned: "Wha-! No! That's not-" he finished with a low growl of frustration, but not without a slight blush on his cheeks. "I was thinking about the problem that we'll have to tell Woolsey."

After placing some dead leaves and branches over the trap, the tall man got up and shrugged: "So? It won't be that much of a problem. I'm sure he'll understand the situation."

Rodney shook violently his head. "You don't get it, he is not the type to bypass rules, so he'll have to inform the I.O.A. as well." Seeing that Ronon still wasn't getting it, he continued: "This could mean Sheppard would get into trouble… or worse! He could be banned from Atlantis, or- or…!"

"Or what? See, you _are_ thinking about him" was Ronon's smug reply. He turned around and swiftly changed the subject: "Okay, so now we have to go into hiding if we want to catch something." He stopped, however, to add: "But don't worry, everything's gonna be fine."

Rodney rolled his eyes, but oddly, he felt comforted by the Satedan's words. But within seconds, he was lost in his thoughts again and didn't see that he had set foot in Ronon's trap. "Arghhhh!"

...o.o.o...

Teyla had just came back from gathering wood, and was setting her things on the ground, when they all heard someone screaming.

Sheppard's blood iced in his veins: "It's Rodney."

Teyla immediately got up and commanded: "Colonel, stay here, it could be dangerous. Alexander, come with me."

The young man wasn't happy with this, but followed nonetheless.

The Athosian woman ran fast toward the origin of the sound.

Alexander tried to follow the best he could. Fear took hold of his heart; if his father really was in danger, he'd do anything to save him. He didn't want another Rodney McKay to die because of him; he had had enough of seeing his father's death in his own dimension.

But when they got on spot, relief quickly washed over them.

Rodney was hanging by his feet, up in the tree, while Ronon was laughing freely. No enemy, no danger, no one hurt.

The Canadian was all red in the face from ranting and most probably the lack of oxygen from being upside-down: "Oh that's it, laugh as much as you like, but when I come down-!" he then noticed the two newcomers: "Hey! You two! Quit staring and do something!"

However, it was quite a challenge to not laugh at his father's predicament, so Alexander had to muffle his amusement while trying to untie him. He couldn't care less if Rodney was angry at Ronon. Now that he could see that he was safe, nothing else mattered to him.

When the scientist was on the ground again, Alexander went back to Sheppard, who was still waiting for some news.

The rest of the evening flew by as the team set down to rest, and the next morning, they resumed their journey to the gate.

...o.o.o...

Richard Woolsey wasn't one to bend the rules much. But when he saw team SGA-01 coming through the gate with a certain scientist yelling "Med team needed stat, we have a wounded pregnant man here!", he knew that he would have to start bending them.

* * *

Sorry for the late update everyone! I had eye surgery and my eyes were sensitive for two weeks, and would tire very easily. But now this chapter is done! Tell me if you liked it or not, I tried to put some action in it. Was it too much? ^^;


	7. Where's the exit door again?

**Where's the exit door again?**

After the crisis in the gateroom had passed and John's shoulder had been looked at, he was now being checked out by Carson with the Ancient scanner.

They were in the infirmary, looking at the screen showing the results. John was in scrubs, sitting on the bed used for the Ancient scanner. They had first asked it to check the nanites in John's body, to compare with the scans Carson took when he came back from the Khajiits' planet.

Keller was also present, as per Woolsey's request. And she wasn't a happy camper about the whole situation.

"Um… This is- I am surprised- I mean, I didn't think those nanites would activate by themselves" Carson exclaimed awkwardly. "After seeing the information that Alexander collected from MRT-044's machine, I didn't think that we'd see its results; after all, the first scan we did when the colonel came back from that mission were not positive."

Teyla intervened: "But how is it possible for a man to be pregnant?"

"To put it simply," Alexander answered, "the nanites that were injected in mom, were of medical nature that had the sole purpose of creating an artificial uterus to sustain the cells that were formed by both sets of DNA from mom and dad. How the machine did it, however, is still something only the Ancients know of. Their research must be somewhere -anywhere-, but not in the machine."

"So it's impossible to make another device just like the one on MRT-044?" Woolsey asked.

Alexander sent a look at Carson, who took the lead: "Well, at least, not for the moment; until we can find their research notes on the subject, it would probably take us decades to build a replica."

The leader nodded, but not without some signs of disappointment. "This machine could have helped out infertile couples to conceive, back on Earth." He sighed.

"Yes, it is indeed sad, but I'm sure one day we'll be able to find a solution." He turned to Sheppard: "Now if you would move to a bed, I'll bring the sonogram machine."

When everything was settled, everyone present in the room was staring at the machine's screen, waiting to see if there really was a baby.

Carson put the gel on Sheppard's lower abdomen, around the area where a woman's uterus would be. He scanned with the device. He then saw the small fetus on the screen and stopped, amazed. "This is extraordinaire" he said to himself. "This is... A scientific breakthrough! Can you imagine? A man, pregnant!" Carson was stupefied, to say the least. "Congratulations, colonel!"

It was like time froze for everyone. Sheppard took time to look at the people present in the room.

Jennifer hadn't said anything yet. But from where he was, lying on the bed, John could almost read her mind; it was clear in her eyes that she was devastated at the machine's results. She was the complete opposite of Carson.

Turning to Teyla, he saw amazement. However, her eyes were filled with sadness; he didn't know why, but now wasn't the time for this.

Ronon was emotionless, as usual when faced with something strange, but not disapproving. It relieved him a bit that he at least the support of his Satedan friend.

Alexander was at his side, by the bed. The young man gently squeezed his hand, showing he was there for him.

He finally looked at Rodney; the poor man seemed lost as he looked at the screen, as if his whole life had just crumbled at his feet. John was actually surprised; he had expected anger, but not despair. The day before, he had seem so crossed.

"How… far along is he, Dr Beckett?" Woolsey asked.

Looking at the fetus on the screen to evaluate. "Well, if this were a normal pregnancy, guessing from the size of the fetus, I'd say from 7 to 9 weeks. And it seems healthy from what I can tell." He wiped the gel off the pregnant's lower abdomen, and noticed that he was lost in his thoughts.

"If I remember correctly, it has been exactly two months since our visit to MRT-044" Rodney mentioned, "so it would concur with your observations." He then looked at Jennifer, who evaded his gaze, a scowl on her face.

Carson's question brought Sheppard back to reality: "How are you feeling, lad?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

John sat up and shrugged. "Like I did yesterday?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

That's when Jennifer intervened: "Colonel, this is serious. We need to know your symptoms, as well as other things that could tell us more about your situation." She had delivered her message with a cold, calculating voice.

"Okay, look. I'm fine, I swear. Of course, I have morning sickness, as well as other normal-pregnancy-related stuff. And aside from that dull pain in my shoulder, I repeat, I feel fine" the pregnant man admitted seriously. "Now I'm dead tired, so if we could just..."

Carson looked at Mr Woolsey: "Well I could always do the other tests I need tomorrow morning."

The older man nodded. "One more thing before I leave: meeting in the conference room in fifteen minutes. I need to know what exactly happened during that mission." He then left and returned to his office.

With that, Jennifer left promptly, her fists tightly closed. Rodney followed suite, with a weak "Jen?" to try to understand what was going on.

"Well, colonel. Be careful with your arm to give it time to heal correctly." He then let a small smile appear on his face. "But someone in your condition shouldn't be doing anything too strenuous, anyway, right?" he lightly teased. And with a wink, he left for his office.

Sheppard looked at the two persons left. "Okay then, I guess we should get going. You guys go ahead, I'll change out of these scrubs and meet you at the conference room."

...o.o.o…

They were sitting on a chair, waiting for the ex-I.O.A. member to speak. The only people present were team SGA-01 and Alexander. Woolsey noted that all the members of the mission looked tired and in great need of a shower. "So... Can someone fill me in about what happened?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

All eyes went to Rodney, who frowned. "Why me?"

When no one answered, he resigned himself to talk: "Okay! Fine!" He cleared his throat. "So, it was of common knowledge that we were going there to renew our trading agreement."

Woolsey nodded, so Rodney continued: "Well when we arrived to the village, we were captured, labelled as intruders." He then shot a glance at Sheppard. "But_ then,_ mister mom, _here_, decided to reveal his little secret to us... _after_ being kicked in the stomach AND a little panic attack!"

John glared at his friend, but it didn't work because Rodney continued his story: "So we were able to escape thanks to some rebels that freed all prisoners." He paused. "Then the castle started to collapse, John got his shoulder dislocated, we escaped the castle, we slept in the forest, and now we're back."

Ronon, out of turn of turn, added: "Hey you forgot to talk about how you got stuck in the hunting trap, McKay." He then slightly chuckled at Rodney's expanse.

"Yeah. Well this isn't of major importance, so I think we should skip this part and all forget about it" Rodney said, upset. "Sheppard's situation is more urgent to be taken care of."

John noted the light disdain in Rodney's tone of voice.

Woolsey cleared his throat: "Well, I don't think that we can discuss much about this, here." When he saw that everyone frowned in confusion, he clarified: "This situation is out of the ordinary. It will affect this entire expedition-"

Sheppard opened his mouth to intervene, but the older man was quicker: "-And because of that, we must inform SGC of this event." Unlike what most people thought, Richard didn't like working much with his ex-coworkers; he loathed each time he had to do it because they couldn't understand Atlantis' situation, safe back on Earth. "Since we won't be able to hide the fact that… you won't be able to go on missions anymore. The information in regard to your condition, Colonel, is to be kept quiet, until they decide of the outcome."

...o.o.o...

A few hours later, Woolsey had informed Stargate Command about the situation. Of course, they had decided that they would let the I.O.A. judge of the outcome of all this. They were to meet two days later, on Earth, to decide what would happen.

Sitting in the mess hall, team SGA-01 was finishing dinner, watching the sun set.

"Well if you will excuse me, I must return to my room. I have a mission report to write" Teyla declared, as she got up from the plastic chair. She nodded to everyone and finished with John, her smile falling, before she left.

"Why is Teyla giving me the cold shoulder?" Sheppard said, as he put down his tray on the mess table.

Ronon shrugged and Rodney raised an eyebrow: "Oh come on, Sheppard; even Ronon's not that dense."

John frowned. "Huh?"

"She's angry" Ronon declared.

Since John was still frowning, Rodney added, with his eyes rolling: "You yelled at her for not telling you about her pregnancy a year back. And yet you did the same to us," he finished, with a sour tone.

John fixated where Teyla had left and felt guilty. "I think I should apologize to her..." he said, taking the juice in his tray, and left.

"Hey! What about us? I think you need to do some apologizing here too!" Rodney yelled. He then noticed that John had left his food and hadn't eaten anything yet. He sighed: "And he says that _I'm_ forgetful sometimes..."

Ronon simply shrugged and continued to eat.

...o.o.o...

At Teyla's room, John knocked on the door. There was no reason to barge in if he wanted to apologize.

"Enter, John" the Athosian woman said.

The man was surprised by both the fact that she knew it was him and because she allowed him to enter. So he did as permitted and as the door opened, he walked inside her apartments.

She sat on a chair, near the window. Her hand was placed on Torren's empty crib; he was living with Kanaan on the mainland, most of the time now.

"Huh look, Teyla, I..."

"-don't. If I allowed you here it is not because I want you to apologize. I simply wish to know if you now understand the position I was in, almost two years ago now." She then looked up at him, with soft eyes, asking for the truth.

He danced uncomfortably from one foot to the other, looking at the ground in shame.

"I see. I think that we are even now, John. I forgive you; I was not really angry to begin with, more like... hurt." She smiled warmly, showing that there were not hard feelings.

Sheppard then mumbled.

Teyla frowned slightly. "I did not understand a word, colonel."

"I just said that I was lost." He took in a shaky breath. "I... Didn't know what to do..."

The woman's face softened and she got up to hug her friend, and then linking their forehead in the Athosian way, she comforted him: "We are here for you, John. _Your family_ is here for you. Never forget that."

"Yeah, well you should tell that to the I.O.A. members tomorrow. I don't think they will think very positively of all this..." John admitted, a bit sad.

"Ah, but only time will tell. You may be surprised. But now you should relax this evening before going to sleep, you will need all your strength for tomorrow" Teyla said, with a motherly tone. Taking John's hand in her own, they walked to his apartments, "How about you try meditation…"

...o.o.o...

So here they were all, at Stargate Command on Earth, discussing the hottest topic of the moment: lieutenant colonel John Sheppard's pregnancy. They were in a conference room: the I.O.A. members behind a table at the back of the room, the others on the side and Sheppard in the center.

Standing in front of the I.O.A. members, John was feeling queasy. All those questions about what happened, how it happened, his current intentions... it was unnerving him. Why couldn't they leave him alone?

On top of that, a committee of 'experts' had been formed to discuss the matter: medical doctors, Dr Beckett and Dr Keller; the leader of the Atlantis expedition, Woolsey; a military officer, also an ex-leader of Atlantis, colonel Carter and the last, _but not the least_, a scientific expert about Ancient technology, Dr Rodney McKay.

Of course, this meeting took three hours. Three hours in which Sheppard had been standing on his feet for the most part and in which he didn't get to eat anything other than a muffin.

So, when he swayed on his feet -from manly hunger-, he wasn't surprised... much.

However, it had a completely different effect on everyone else.

Rodney panicked, flailing his arms like a headless chicken; Woolsey stared wide eyes; Carson rushed to John's side, urging him to sit down; and Jennifer simply stood there, with a scowl on her face.

As he sat down -or more like pushed down by Carson- on the nearest chair, John could feel all eyes on him and it was annoying him.

When he tried to reassure the people around him that he was fine, Rodney cut in and yelled above everyone else: "See! Told you that it wasn't natural!"

"Shut up, McKay!" Sheppard barked back.

Rodney didn't add anything, but his facial expression meant everything and Sheppard was hurt by that.

Then, the meeting was put on hold by the I.O.A. members so they could take a decision in private. Everyone was ushered out of the conference room.

...o.o.o...

Sheppard, sitting on another chair outside, could predict easily what the verdict would be. They would force him to abort the fetus or else they would send him to Area 51 to be treated like a guinea pig and kick him out of the military, never to see Atlantis again. He slumped on his chair and supported his head with his hands and elbows on his knees, feeling defeated. If only he could run away using the closest EXIT door and leave that place.

McKay, from the other side of the hallway, could feel John's inner turmoil. However, he couldn't get it why John was so stubborn about this whole... predicament. If he'd abort it, life would be much simpler, and he wouldn't risk losing the privilege of living on Atlantis. Lost in his thoughts, he felt a hand squeeze his own; Jennifer smiled at him. He offered back a squeeze of his own and a weak smile; he couldn't stop thinking about Sheppard and his stupid situation.

Jennifer felt that her boyfriend's mind was occupied, and she knew it wasn't because of some problem on Atlantis. It was about John, she was 100% sure. She would have to find a way to get back Rodney's attention towards her; she hoped that the I.O.A. council would help her with the problem.

...o.o.o...

After two hours, enough time for Sheppard to eat a solid meal, the I.O.A. members opened the door to the conference room. With a grim expression marring their faces, they signaled everyone to enter.

As everyone was seated, Mr Coolidge got up and started: "So, after reflecting upon the subject, the decision was difficult to take..."

A rock fell at the bottom of John's stomach; that was it, here came his doom sentence.

"... and we came to the conclusion that Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard is to stay in function as security leader of Atlantis. He is not to go on off-world missions and will have to be followed weekly by a physician, as any woman with a high-risk pregnancy."

Sheppard stared into space, his brain barely computing the information. He then let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding; it was as if he was deflating like a balloon, pressure being released.

"If the condition is to interfere with his functions on Atlantis, a replacement will be put in his stead." The man took a short pause, before continuing; everyone was literally suspended to his lips. "After debating the point, we settled on leaving the choice to John Sheppard of aborting or continuing his... pregnancy, as part of the Human Rights Chart. No sanctions will take place because this predicament was the result of an accident and could not have been prevented."

When Mr Coolidge sat down, the noise in the room elevated quickly. There were different reactions: some were of relief, some indifferent, and others were of confusion.

Jennifer couldn't believe that the I.O.A. had given him the choice to keep it. She frowned; she would have to find another way, by herself, to get rid of Sheppard and that baby. She needed them out of way if she wanted her relationship with Rodney to flourish.

As for McKay, a mix of relief and confusion was present in his mind. He could not decide of he was happy about the decision, or if he should be angry. It's not that he wanted John to abort; he just didn't want to be the father of that child. He was in a relationship already and a baby would mess everything up. And he was pretty sure that people would look at him as responsible for the baby... which he didn't want to happen. Also, Jennifer didn't want children as of yet, so why would she want to take care of someone else's child?

He knew it was important to John to preserve innocent lives... but this was getting ridiculous. Why go through something that could kill you? At least he wouldn't keep the baby after the birth, it's way too dangerous on Atlantis for a child... It was then that Rodney was hit by a realization: John wanted to keep the baby... just like in Alexander's dimension! Panic invaded the scientist and to reassure himself, he looked at Sheppard from the corner of his eyes: the man seemed lost in his thoughts, with a smile on his lips. "Oh god no" Rodney whispered harshly. He was doomed.

It was then declared that the meeting over and suggested everyone to go back home.

Jennifer stormed out of the room, not without Rodney following her like a lost puppy.

It lasted a few seconds, but John and Rodney's eyes met; John saw the confusion in his friend's eyes. He sent a small smile and mouthed silently 'Don't worry'. Sadness then appeared on Rodney's face, as he left the room, while Sheppard stood there.

Some people came to the colonel to pat him on the back; many congratulations were said, some more awkward than others.

John wished it would be over soon; he felt drained from all this and simply wanted to go back home and be alone for a while. He had a lot to think about now that he was free to do as he wanted.

* * *

Hello everyone! Here's another chapter :)

I also wanted to thank 'Guest' for the anonymous review. I'm very glad you like the story and you'll have your answers in the next chapters ;)


	8. Disappointment

**Disappointment is the understatement of the year**

While Atlantis' senior members were away for the I.O.A meeting, Teyla was in charge. Alexander had given himself the job to follow her and try to learn a few things about leading a city; after all, it was one of his goal of his stay, in that dimension.

"Hey Teyla, I'm taking a break and going to the mess hall for a snack, you need something?"

She looked up from the screen where Chuck was showing her something: "No thanks. Enjoy your snack" she said with a smile.

As soon as he got out of the command room, someone was waiting for him.

"Good morning, Alexander."

The young man was taken aback by the presence of the other. "Major… What are you doing here?"

Evan laughed sarcastically. "Well, you see, I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past month. You're pretty good at hiding, aren't you?" He then said near the young man's ear: "Let's walk, we need to talk."

As they got to an narrow empty corridor, the older man started to talk: "I'll go straight to the point, here, you know why I'm here. You told me that you'd go back to that planet and check the machine out. Earlier this morning, I learned that colonel Sheppard got pregnant because of a machine, on that same planet. Now, why am I under the impression that you're hiding something from me?"

Alexander looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. But he quickly switched to a poker face. He went straight to the point as well: "If you're wondering if I am pregnant, no I'm not."

The major rose an eyebrow. "You're not? You swear?" His body language screamed with disbelief.

At that moment, two soldiers patrolling came by, so they both stopped talking; they didn't wish for others to hear. When the soldiers were far enough, both men stared at each other, the silence heavy with doubts.

"It didn't work on me" Alexander finally said, and tried to leave. "You don't have to worry."

But Lorne was faster, so he caught his arm. "Oh really? So if I'd push you to the wall," he said, pinning the young man against it, "and were to punch you in the guts," he hovered his fist right under the navel, where he was sure it would do some damage, "you're telling me that I'd only hurt you, and no one else?"

Alexander's whole body went rigid against Lorne; his heart beating fast, praying that the major would leave him be, he said, with as much confidence he could muster: "Yes. You'd only hurt me." But his mind screamed at Lorne to not punch him there.

And with that, Evan backed away. But he punched the wall beside Alexander's face in frustration, and declared: "I may not have all that knowledge like those shrinks have, but I _know_ when someone is lying." Gray eyes locked on blue ones: "You're… pregnant, aren't you? Tell me!"

When the young man didn't say a thing, the answer was obvious. Closing his eyes shut, Alexander's hands immediately went to protect his lower abdomen.

A sigh. Evan's stance relaxed. "Sorry for the scare. I wouldn't have punched you in the gut, I just needed an answer." The major ran a hand through his hair, having trouble thinking about a solution. "How can you be sure that you are?"

Opening his eyes and biting his lip, Alexander took a few seconds to reply. "The symptoms are rather easy to recognize, especially if you're a man, it's not a normal thing." He sighed. "My nausea isn't so bad, but the headaches are really freaking annoying."

"Sorry to hear about that" Lorne said, genuinely. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Not 'we'," the young man corrected. "I… I'll soon go back to my own dimension. And there, nobody will know what happened. I'll raise the child alone and you won't need to do anything." He turned his face away in shame, wishing for Lorne to leave.

But the man wouldn't end the conversation there. "Look, Alexander, I'm not a monster. I'm not gonna let you raise a kid alone, you're barely out of teenage-hood yourself!" he said, raising both arms in the air, desperately.

"Yeah right, you're only saying this because if it were to become public knowledge, you'd lose face." Alexander crossed his arms in defiance.

Lorne tried to remain calm. He breathed in slowly: "Okay, fine. You want to play stubborn, I'll let you play alone. But hear me out first: I don't want you refusing my help now, only to come back running later when things get too hectic."

"Of course." Then, Alexander scratched his neck nervously: "I'm sorry for being an asshole about the whole thing… It's just… I don't want my parents to know about it."

Lorne frowned. "But why? This is rather important. We _are_ talking about another life here."

Alexander looked down at his feet. "Yeah, but mom already has his arms full with his own pregnancy and dad… is with Jennifer. They don't need to worry about me. And you don't need this, as well. It was all a mistake that I did; curiosity killed the cat, I guess." He then looked up and smiled: "I'll be fine."

With that, the young man parted, leaving a perplexed major Lorne.

...o.o.o...

When they got back from Earth that evening, Alexander and Teyla were waiting in front of the Stargate to greet them. It was already seven in the evening, so everyone went in their own direction.

Jennifer and Rodney seemed in a hurry to return to their quarters; however they didn't look in a lovey-dovey type of mood.

Woolsey stood in front of Teyla: "How did it go?"

They Athosian woman smiled widely: "Very well, sir. Everything went smoothly."

"Good, good! I'm glad. Thank you, Teyla, your help was very much appreciated."

She nodded and left to her quarters.

Alexander saw that John was walking with a lighter step than when he had left, so he guessed that everything went well. He followed the man to his quarters

When they got there, John sprawled on the bed, tired as hell; all the stress had gotten to him.

Alexander finally spoke up, as he sat on the desk's chair: "So I should assume that everything is okay with the meeting?"

Sheppard nodded nonchalantly.

The younger man's face illuminated: "That's great news!" He then stopped, when he noticed his mother wasn't smiling. "Why the long face?" He frowned.

John shrugged and sat up from where he was lying on the bed. "Guess I'm just tired from today. It gave me a splitting headache and all I wanna do is sleep."

Alexander pouted slightly: "OK then. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

The older man smiled: "No thanks, unless you have a magic wand that would solve all my problems?" He looked up, making a grimace.

"No, sorry. Better luck next time" was the young man's swift reply. He then switched the subject. "Hey was it just me or dad seemed furious, earlier. Did something happen?"

"Probably an argument with Jennifer, again. She seemed really annoyed when the council gave me the permission to keep my…baby" he made a face, saying the last words, "Now that was a weird thing to say. Whatever. She's been acting weird for a while now."

"I know, ever since we met, I've had this weird feeling about her." He took a pen lying on the desk and started twirling it between his fingers.

Taking interest in a book lying on his nightstand, John simply added: "Well with your return, it's normal."

The young man stopped playing with his pen, and frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sheppard, feigning disinterestedness, explained: "Look, stop joking around. You cannot _not _understand why..." He then flipped the book's pages open.

Alexander scoffed and rolled his eyes: "I wouldn't be asking the questions if I already knew the answer!"

The older man rose an eyebrow: "Watch the attitude, young man... We don't need another Rodney around here." He sighed and put down his book. "Look, Alexander. You can't possibly_ not _realize how your reappearance is bothering Jennifer..."

The young man scowled, not liking where this was going. "Is that why she's always giving me the evil eye?"

John continued: "She sees you as a threat for her couple. She knows what happened when you were here a few years ago, how Rodney and I acted as your substitute parents. She doesn't like that one bit."

Alexander shrugged: "So what? It's not like I'd try to separate them... well, on purpose anyway."

Sheppard looked at the young man intently: "_Not on purpose_? Really? That's the only thing that you could come up with?"

Again, Alexander shrugged, with a smile in the corner. "Yeah, sorry" he chuckled. "But she's always asking me rude questions towards you guys in my dimension, and how mom and dad got together and all. It's like she's trying to prevent you and dad from getting together, here."

To that, Sheppard chocked on his saliva and croaked out: "And what makes you think that I would end up with McKay?"

Alexander used John's signature smile, full of confidence: "Oh come on, mom. I'm not five anymore; I can feel the tension between you two."

"I- I don't know what you're talking about!" the older man huffed.

That made the young man chuckle at the denial. To be nice, he crossed his arms in front of him and changed the subject: "So, what are you gonna do now?"

Sheppard deflated a bit: "I don't know what to do anymore."

"Why's that?" Alexander asked, curious. He put down the pen.

John shrugged: "In the beginning, I didn't want them to make me kill it. But now that I have the choice, I don't think it's such a good idea to keep it, after all…"

"Why not, mom? It's not forever, it's only nine months… well more like six now."

"I know, Alexander. It's just that Rodney doesn't seem too happy about the whole thing. And I'm not even talking about Jennifer, here." He leaned against the bed's headboard. "You see, I think that it would be best for everyone if I aborted my… pregnancy." He awkwardly touched his belly, barely rounded.

The young man got up from his chair to sit down beside John. "Look, mom, maybe you shouldn't care about what the others, like dad and his girlfriend, think. Do you really want this kid?" he asked, with bright blue eyes shining.

"Well, yeah." Sheppard then made a sour face: "And could you stop calling us 'mom' and 'dad'? You're not five anymore… and when you say 'dad and Jennifer' it sounds… argh, nevermind. Just don't say it."

It was Alexander's turn to make a face: "Whatever. I still think that you let people's opinion affect your own too much." He sighed, and then tried to lighten the mood: "How about watching a movie before going to sleep? It's still pretty early."

Sheppard nodded. Maybe a movie would help alleviate his worries. He frowned jokingly: "As long as we're not watching Arnold Schwarzenegger's _Junior_!"

...o.o.o...

"How is this going to help us?"

"Dunno. Maybe stall some time?"

"Mhmm, I guess if we'd-"

A loud woosh indicated that someone had opened the door. "Dr McKay? Can I speak with you for a minute?"

"Huh, yeah. Sure." He turned to Zelenka: "Don't you dare touch anything before I come back." He stood up and followed Teyla. Zelenka just rolled his eyes and started drumming his fingers on the table impatiently.

Outside, as the door closed, Teyla spoke up: "I wanted to know what your opinion is on this whole... situation."

Rodney knew what she was talking about, but feigned ignorance, hoping that she would get the hint and drop the subject: "What situation?" he asked, impatiently.

Her eyes narrowed: "You know what I am talking about. Colonel Sheppard's condition. What is your opinion about the whole thing?"

Rodney stiffened a bit, before answering: "I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea for me to be discussing this with you." He averted his gaze elsewhere, not wanting to look at her eyes.

Teyla was taken aback by her friend's harsh response: "Very well, but hear this: I think you should talk with John."

"Why? It's only been a few days since we came back from Earth."

The athosian woman sighed, and tried to remain calm: "Look, Rodney, he... hasn't been feeling well and needs to talk to someone. He seems lost and yet, doesn't want to talk to anyone. I know you two are close-"

"-And what makes you think that he'll want to talk to me? It's not like there's much to say... I already said what were my thoughts on this... abomination." His posture stiffened and his face hardened like a stone.

Teyla didn't like Rodney's difficult attitude, but she ended the conversation swiftly: "If you don't talk to John, you will regret that choice for a long time." She turned around: "Good afternoon, Dr McKay" she said coldly, and left promptly.

Rodney stayed there for a minute, thoughts whirling around. He knew he would have to talk to John, one day or another. He just didn't want to do it before he had set his own mind about the baby. He then shuddered; a baby, ruining everything in his life. He reentered the labs, hoping to drown his mind with work.

...o.o.o...

When Rodney decided to leave the labs, it was well past midnight, and everyone else had already left. It was eerily calm, with the low buzzing sound of the computers.

He sighed as he logged off the computer; getting up, he turned off all the remaining lights and called it a day.

His stomach grumbled, since he had skipped the evening meal. He decided to go for a quick trip to the mess hall.

But when he was faced with Sheppard who was sitting down at one of the tables, Rodney wasn't sure if he was _that_ hungry anymore; he stopped dead in his tracks, waiting to see if John had noticed him.

However, it was too late, as the military man looked up from his cup of tea to see who was walking towards the mess hall.

"Shit" Rodney mumbled under his breath. Now he had no other choice than to talk with John. He walked toward the him: "Hey, Sheppard."

The other man rose an eyebrow. "What are you doing up at this time of the night?" Taking a sip of his tea, he waited Rodney to answer.

"Well… I just finished some experiments at the labs. What are _you_ doing here?" was the scientist's answer. He then sat down across John.

"I... couldn't sleep, I guess. So I tried drinking a hot tea." He took another sip. "Urgh but the taste is horrible..."

McKay replied hastily: "You should drink coffee instead… it's a hell lot better!" But when John glared at him, he then remembered that pregnant wome- _people_ weren't supposed to drink any. He cleared his throat awkwardly: "Huh… sorry."

Which made Sheppard smile and laugh.

Even though he wouldn't have admitted this to anyone, that moment right there had made his day; that simple laugh alleviated Rodney's stress and it had felt just like 'before'. And that made him outwardly smile.

...o.o.o...

"Where were you last night?" was the only question Rodney received when the door whooshed open.

It did surprise him enough to make him jump. "What?"

Jennifer inhaled quickly, ready to repeat herself.

"Ok, I'm sorry, it's not what I meant." He cleared his throat. "I meant, why are you asking?"

She put her fists on her hips: "Because I'm your _girlfriend_, Rodney. It's _normal_ for me to know these things." She turned around and walked further into the apartments.

McKay sighed, entered the room and honestly answered: "Well I was working on a simulation, and when I realized how late it was, I didn't want to wake you up, so I went to the mess hall. And there I found Sheppard who-"

"Oh, I see it now, _Sheppard_ was there. Did you two cuddle and made plans for your future baby?!"

His thoughts came to a halt: "I'm sorry, what?" His eyebrows shot up; he was shocked at what she was implying.

"You heard me correctly the first time, Rodney."

"But… Jennifer!" the man whined.

Jennifer glared at the man: "Dammit, Rodney! Don't 'But, Jennifer' me! Ever since you came back from that stupid mission on MRT-044, that's all you've been talking about: Sheppard this, Sheppard that…! I can't stand it! You're giving him more attention that your own _girlfriend_!"

Rodney tried to reply: "That's…! That's not true!"

She scoffed loudly: "What a cheap comeback!" She crossed her arms. "If only I were the one pregnant, _I_ would be the one showered with attention!" She stomped her foot on the ground like a small child.

It was the scientist's turn to scoff, in shock: "What?! I'm sorry but I don't get it: you've been telling me, _ever since we started dating_, that you don't want kids!"

"Yeah, but I'm also your girlfriend. He's trying to lure you to him, he's just… an attention wh-"

"-Don't you dare finish that sentence!" McKay yelled, stupefied that she would even think that about the colonel. "What's with all that anger, Jennifer? I love you, _you know that_. I don't see why you're panicking like that." He threw both hands in the air, at loss about what to say.

She exhaled loudly by the nose, releasing some pent-up anger.

McKay did the same. "Okay, I'll admit that this whole predicament is occupying a lot of my thoughts. But-" he started, when he saw that she wanted to interject, "it's only because I'm trying to find a solution."

"The only solution is that he either gets rid of it- or better yet, that he leaves Atlantis." She crossed her arms stubbornly.

Rodney's eyes widened: "But, Jennifer…" he started, "you can't make him leave this place, it's like his home here."

She sneered: "Of course I can't make him, but I can always wish for it."

That last sentence made McKay's breath hitch. He didn't recognize the Jennifer he had met a year before. He frowned, but said nothing, as he knew the shouting match would simply continue and he didn't have the energy at that moment for this.

...o.o.o...

It had been two weeks since Sheppard's meeting on Earth and everything was almost back to normal.

Sitting in one of Atlantis' labs, Alexander had been called by two other scientists to try to activate a device they had been working on for the last two days.

Turning the object around in his hands, the young man analyzed it: round, about the size of a baseball, there were tiny lights all around it softly glowing. He looked up: "So, what do you think it does?" he asked one of the scientists.

"Well, that's the thing. We don't know" said Dr Smith. "It's like the object isn't made to be opened" she pushed back her thick glasses, disappointed that they were at a dead-end.

Alexander stared, annoyed at the scientist: "Don't you think maybe that's because it's supposed to _stay_ closed?" He didn't like the idea of playing with the device. What if it would harm him or the baby? He cringed at those thoughts. "Whatever, let's get it going…" And so, he continued to turn it around in his hands, until he noticed a small circle that he had overlooked the first time; it had flashed when he had brushed his thumb over it. He emitted a noise of interest. "Hey there, little circle, let's see what you have for us" he expressed cockily.

The two scientists were beside him in an instant, curious of what they would discover about this mysterious object. "It's never done this before!" one of them exclaimed.

When Alexander pushed the circle-shaped button, the small object grew hot, so hot that it burned the young man's hands. He quickly dropped it on the floor: "What the fuck!" He blew on his burnt skin.

The round device's lights flashed blue and red, faster each time.

It was then, that realization hit home: "Dammit! It's a bomb!" Alexander yelled. "Take cover!"

The scientists threw themselves at the ground, protecting their head with their hands.

When they thought the object was going to blow up, it released a low pitched sound instead. Then a wave pulsated out of it, making the equipment in the lab tremble.

Everything calmed down and everyone looked around to check the damage.

"Well it seems like it wasn-" Alexander stopped in mid-sentence as he felt something pull in his lower abdomen. The feeling grew stronger, to the point of making him weak in the knee because of the pain.

"Are you alright, Alexander?" Dr Smith asked, worried. She ran to him, to check him over.

The young man tried to answer but the throbbing was too intense for him to think straight. "Call Dr. Beckett" he was able to mutter out. He then collapsed on the floor, half-conscious.

When the medical team arrived, the young man was delirious with pain.

...o.o.o...

"What!?" Alexander woke up with a start.

"Whoa there, lad. Take it easy" Carson said, checking the bandages the nurse had just applied on the young man's hands: "Well these look fine… Are you still in pain? It took a lot of meds to make you stop squirming."

"A little. Though it's more of a constant buzz now." Looking around the infirmary, Alexander tried to see how many people there were in the room. He then said, his voice low, almost whispering: "Carson, there's something I need to tell ya…"

The doctor leaned in, showing that he was listening.

"But first, I have to know, is mom on Atlantis?" Alexander asked anxiously, biting his lip.

Beckett shook his head: "He's been on the Mainland since this morning, why?"

There was a sign of relief in his face: "I think that the Ancient device released a magnetic field." When Carson frowned, but said nothing out of confusion, he continued: "The nanites that are in me, they probably were deactivated because of that magnetic energy. That's what has been causing me pain."

"But what are you doing with nanites inside you?"

Turning his head away in shame, Alexander answered: "I'm… pregnant. Happened the same way as my mom… I'm sorry."

Beckett's eyes widened in shock: "But why didn't you tell us?" He moved to the ancient scanner, rolling it to Alexander's bed. "I have to check what's happened with that blast."

The young man sighed. "I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to disappoint mom and dad. And I didn't want Mr Woolsey to kick me out. I… I think I panicked. So I was going to try to find a way back to my own dimension." He closed his eyes in exhaustion. "But now it seems that it won't be necessary."

As the scanner finished its process, Carson looked at the screen. "Well you are right about the nanites; they are all lying dormant in the area underneath your navel. But there's also a mass of tissues." He stopped right there, not knowing how to enunciate what he wanted to say: "That means… without the nanites…"

"That the fetus is dying, yes, Dr Beckett" Alexander finished the sentence with a slightly trembling voice. "Without the hormones and nutrients transmitted by the nanites, it's impossible for it to survive."

"Want me to call colonel Sheppard or Rodney?" asked the older man, unsure of what to say. He didn't like how the young man was reacting.

A deep breath. "No. They don't need to be aware of that, right now. I'll tell them later, myself."

Carson nodded: "I'll have to respect that, since you are old enough to make your own decision. But I'm not liking it one bit." He then pushed back the scanner. "We'll have to open you up to get that fetus out of you. We can't have a mass of dying tissue kill you, now." He looked intently at the other: "I'll have to inform Mr Woolsey about the operation, however. There's no way I can bypass him."

The young man nodded reluctantly. "Let's do it, then. I'll have to deal with that, after." He then closed his eyes, a single tear escaping his eyes.

* * *

Hello everyone! Sorry for the wait, but this chapter took a while to write; at first I didn't have enough stuff, then I started adding some other stuff... and finally, there were too many things happening that I had to end the chapter there (I mean, this _is_ a 4000 word chapter!) so what I had first planned will be in the next chapter.

I was mean to poor Alexander :'( sorry about that, Alex. But things are gonna get better, you'll see :)

As always, I'd love to hear what you thought of the chapter, it always helps when I'm feeling down or out of inspiration ;)


	9. Not everyone can be satisfied

**Not everyone can be satisfied **

When John arrived from the mainland late in the evening, the first thing he was informed of, was the accident that had happened in the labs. His heart stopped when he thought of Alexander.

His first reaction was to run to the infirmary to see if the young man was okay.

When he entered, he noticed that there was only one nurse for the night shift. He went further into the room to see Alexander sleeping in one of the beds. He didn't want to wake him up, so he moved to Carson's office, where the man was still working.

"Huh, sorry to bother you…" he said, as he came in.

The doctor was startled, as he hadn't heard the other approaching. "Oh, colonel! You scared me!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to." John cleared his throat, unsure of how he should phrase his thought. But he decided to go straight to the point: "What the hell happened, today?"

Carson massaged his face with his hands, tired. "Look, Alexander didn't want me to tell you. He wanted to inform you himself. But since you're here now, I don't see the point of lying to you."

The doctor's evasiveness was annoying Sheppard: "I'll just tell him that I had Woolsey order you to, but please, tell me." There was a pause, before panic invaded him suddenly: "He's dying, right?! Tell me, Carson!"

Worry was evident in the colonel's eyes, so the answer was simple, yet effective: "No, he was pregnant. And the blast from an Ancient artifact caused the nanites in his body to cease functioning."

"Wait… what? He _was_ pregnant? You mean…" Sheppard was stupefied. He walked to Alexander's bed to take a closer look.

"Poor lad" Carson said, as he followed. "I had to surgically remove the fetus before it could cause any damage to his body."

John sighed. "It's a good thing I wasn't on Atlantis when it happened."

"Well I highly doubt it would have affected you the way it did for him."

Sitting in the chair beside the bed, Sheppard looked at the young man lying in the bed, pale as a sheet. "What do you mean?"

"When I scanned him earlier, I noticed that some of the nanites were still functioning, but most weren't. I think that the nanites that were injected in him were originally defective for this to happen."

With a sad look, John threw in a weak 'I see', but added nothing else. "So when is he going to wake up?"

"I've given him a light sedative, because he woke up earlier thrashing in a confused state and I didn't want him to tear the stitches. So I'm guessing he should wake up in a few hours." He sighed tiredly: "I'll be in my office. I'll finish my reports until Dr Biro comes in for her shift."

The other man nodded. But he then frowned: "Did anyone tell Rodney?"

"I think so" Carson answered.

Sheppard's facial expression changed quickly to annoyance. "What? And nobody told _me_ of the accident?"

"Huh, we didn't want you to worry, colonel, we-"

The colonel raised a hand to stop Carson: "-That's enough. I have to find Rodney. We need to talk." He left the infirmary with a firm step.

...o.o.o...

John was currently in his quarters, waiting for Rodney to arrive; he had called him through radio. He didn't care it was almost one in the morning; he knew that the scientist was alway up at this hour, so he had fetched him from the labs to have a conversation in private. He was dead tired, but he needed to talk with Rodney.

"Okay, so we're here now. What did you wanted me to say that was so important that we needed to be _alone_?" McKay asked as he entered, slightly irritated at being in Sheppard's quarters; the room brought back many memories that he immediately pushed back into the depth of his brain.

"Something happened today with Alexander. You knew, and yet you didn't think of contacting me through radio?!" Sheppard said, his voice raising with each word he spoke.

Rodney frowned. "Yeah, I didn't think it was needed; the kid's safe after all. No need to panic…"

"No need to panic?! Dammit Rodney, first he was hiding his pregnancy -that we now know of- and second, he lost the baby. Don't you think that he_ maybe _he'd need some support after that?"

The question had McKay scoff: "Well he didn't seem like he wanted any. He actually gave me the cold shoulder."

It was Sheppard's turn to frown: "Don't you think that maybe it was because he was ashamed and thought you'd be disappointed in him, since you've haven't been acting supportive of him lately?"

"Damn it! Why would I be disappointed? It wasn't his fault he got pregnant, it probably was an accident!" Rodney interjected.

"Exactly!" John yelled. "But, oh sure! Because it's Alexander, it's fine, it's an _accident_. But me? Hell no! I'm a _freak of nature_!"

"Don't try to change the subject!" McKay's mouth twitched nervously.

"I'm not changing the subject, I'm still on it! We're talking about the same damn situation, Rodney! That _situation_ I've been trying to explain to you since the _beginning_."

Rodney huffed and crossed his arms in front of him: "It's not. Alexander's not pregnant with _my _child."

John let out a shocked scoff. "So all that time, you've been angry at that poor innocent child that I… that is in me?"

The scientist spun around; he didn't want the colonel to see his face. There was too much confusion in his mind at that moment and he knew that Sheppard would try to talk some sense into him and he didn't need that, at that moment.

When he had turned his face away from him, John knew that McKay was not going to change his opinion. So he rose both hands in confusion: "But… why, Rodney? When Alexander came here three years ago, I didn't hear you say those things… You were even ready to keep him if his parents hadn't come to get him" he threw in, desperate for an answer. He stared at the back of McKay's head, trying to understand the man better.

"I…" the scientist started. He sighed. "We're not in the same situation" he declared coldly. "Now if you don't have anything else to tell me, I'll go to bed, otherwise Jennifer will wonder where I am, again."

John, angered by Rodney's last comment, frowned and threw a frustrated "Fine", before letting the other leave.

The door whooshed closed and John decided to go to bed as well, with the intent of visiting Alexander in the morning.

...o.o.o...

"How are you feeling? And I'm not saying 'physically'."

The young man sighed tiredly. "I'll say this: I feel drained. _Both_ physically and mentally."

Sheppard tilted his head slightly: "Well I think that you have the right to be. But I certainly am a bit disappointed that you didn't tell anyone about your…" he shook his hands, trying to evade saying the word.

"Pregnancy?" the young man said, rising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I was about to say 'situation'. Sorry if I'm not as comfortable as you are with all this" he admitted awkwardly, as he gestured his mid-section. "But why didn't you tell _me_? Of all the people here, I would have been the last one to judge you." He sat back into the chair beside the infirmary bed.

Alexander saw the hurt in his mother's eyes. So he looked away, ashamed: "It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that I should have been more careful with that machine when I approached it… and… and" his voice was starting to tremble, "… and I didn't want to disappoint you and dad. I didn't want to show you guys that I had been careless on the field…" At that point, he started sobbing. All the pressure from the previous months were being evacuated.

John felt uneasy; comforting someone never had been his forte. "Huh… there, there." He patted the young man's arm. "Don't worry, kid, it's okay. I'm not mad or anything." He mentally cringed at how all awkward he was feeling.

Sniffling, Alexander looked at John: "I'm sorry, mom. I'll understand if you want me to go back home. It'd be logical-"

"-Stop that. Why would I ask you to go back? It's not the end of the world, it was an accident. Not your fault. I want you to understand this. You get that?" John said sternly. He didn't want the young man to think he was going to get banned from Atlantis.

Lowering his gaze to his lap, the young man fiddled with the bed cover. "When I saw dad, he didn't look too joyous about the whole thing."

Sheppard shrugged. "It's not like Rodney is really good with his emotions anyway. He was probably just upset that you didn't tell anybody." His thoughts then wandered to their conversation from the previous night; the scientist had seemed disturbed by the incident. "Who cares? It's not like it matters anyways. He'll have to get over it, sooner or later."

Alexander made a face, but said nothing. He wasn't so sure about John's statement. "He's angry because I didn't want to tell him who the father was" he said, lowering his gaze in shame.

Rising an eyebrow, Sheppard asked bluntly: "So who _is_ the other parent?"

"I won't tell. Anyways, they weren't aware that I was pregnant, and now it doesn't matter anymore."

"But why?"

"To protect their identity."

"Very well." Sheppard got up to leave: "I have some stuff to do today, but the psychologist is supposed to come to visit you at around 10:00. If you don't want to talk to us, that's fine. But I want you to be honest with her; someone who went through something like you did, need to talk about it, young man" he chided lightly.

The young man wanted to protest, but John left him no choice. So he crossed his arms and pouted like a child.

Sheppard chuckled at the sight and left, saying that he'd be back later during the day.

...o.o.o...

Alexander looked outside the window, again. He sighed as he returned to his report on an object recently found on one of SGA-02's off-world missions. It was given as a gift to the team; the natives said it was to help ease someone's mood. Well it certainly didn't help his own mood. His mind wandered to the recent events; Rodney still was ignoring him, even after three weeks and after he had tried many times to apologize about lying about his pregnancy. Just thinking about it made him bubble with anger. "Tsh. He's the stupid one. Stupid fight. Stupid-"

"Are you talking to me?"

The soft voice stopped Alexander's train of thoughts. So he turned around to see a young woman emptying a trash can into a bigger container.

"Huh..." he was so startled that he didn't know what to answer; he could have sworn that he had been alone all that time in the small lab. "Hum I mean, no." He chuckled nervously: "Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts."

She smiled lightly. She took off her gloves and extended her arm to shake hands. "I'm Sarah. I just came here two weeks ago, with the Daedalus. What's your name?"

Alexander stared into her eyes for a second, not sure if she was joking or not. How could she not know him? "Alexander's the name" he said, with a charming smile, as he shook hands with her. Well that seemed interesting; someone who didn't know him from his... special background. "So what are you doing here on Atlantis, Sarah?"

She made a grimace with her mouth. "My father's a scientist that was called to come work here; his only condition was that I would have to come along."

"Why the weird face?"

She half-smiled. "Well since I'm not a scientist and don't have any _cool doctorate_ that could be useful here, I'm stuck cleaning up... kinda like a janitor. _Yay_..." she said as she rolled her eyes. "I guess it could be worse, I could be out there getting chased by who-knows-what." She shrugged and then asked: "Okay, so my turn to ask a question. Why the sad face?"

He shook his head. "I was thinking about... someone. My father." He didn't want her to know everything, but maybe just by talking about it with someone who didn't know him would help ease the emotional pain. "We kinda got into a fight... and he won't talk to me anymore. He's been giving me the silent treatment for three weeks now."

She made a sad face: "I see. And I'm guessing it's been bothering you all that time?"

Alexander's shoulders slumped a little. "Yeah."

"Sorry to hear about that. I hope it'll get better for you." She sighed as she looked at her watch: "Ok. Gotta go, some garbage cans are waiting for me!"

She waved good-bye and left the room.

Alexander smiled as he took back the round Ancient object lying on the table. What a weird girl that Sarah was.

...o.o.o...

Ronon entered Woolsey's office with intent. "Can I… huh ask you something?"

The older man put down his pen he was using to sign some papers. "Of course. What is troubling you, Ronon?" The Satedan wasn't one to ask for things, he usually followed without much thinking. So, for him to 'ask something' was rather rare. "Please sit down" he said, motioning the chair in front of his desk.

The tall man nodded, and sat down. "I need someone to be there when I will talk to Sheppard, for… support."

Richard looked strangely at Ronon, but said nothing. He thought that maybe it was something of great importance and a mediator would be needed. So he nodded and tapped his radio comm: "Colonel Sheppard?"

"What?!"

Woolsey jumped slightly at the voice at the other end: "I am sorry for bothering you…" he started, unsure. "But there is a matter that needs to be discussed. Could you come to my office?" he finished, with the nicest tone he could muster.

A throat was cleared: "Huh, yeah sure. I'll be there in five. Sheppard, out."

...o.o.o...

John was trying on yet another pair of pants that didn't fit him. "The hell!?" He threw them on the bed with the rest of his bottom BDUs. He growled in frustration; this was getting ridiculous. He looked at his closet; the only thing left were two pairs of loose jogging pants.

It was then the intercom of his room interrupted his little tantrum: "Colonel Sheppard?"

"What!?" John snapped. He wasn't up to facing a problem other than his pants, at that moment.

"I am sorry for bothering you…"

The man huffed, knowing he had been a bit harsh.

"But there is a matter that needs to be discussed. Could you come to my office?"

He cleared his throat guiltily: "Huh, yeah sure. I'll be there in five. Sheppard, out."

John looked at the jogging pants again, a disgusted look on his face; he didn't like wearing them, but he now had no choice, since Woolsey was expecting him in a few minutes. He jerked the pale grey pants from the closet and put them on. He was almost into his fourth month and his previously-flat stomach was now softer and a small curve showed that a life was growing within.

"Urgh. Well this will have to do". He checked himself out in the mirror; he felt fat. He then realized what had just went through his mind: "Dammit. I'm starting to think like a woman" he cringed. He left, annoyed with himself.

...o.o.o...

"Okay. So I'm here now. What's the problem?" John said, with a tone that implied irritation and impatience.

Woolsey overlooked the colonel's bad mood, since it was very rare for the man to behave this way. "Yes, well, our Satedan friend here, has something he wishes to discuss and has asked me to be here."

Although it took him a few seconds to start his sentence, Ronon declared solemnly: "I think making an alliance between our two people would benefit the situation."

Sheppard was a tad confused. "You'd want an alliance, a marriage... with Amelia Banks?" he asked, trying to clarify. "Well, you don't need my permission for that, although I do think that it's a rather hasty decision" he continued, somewhat annoyed at having lost his time for this.

The tall man finally spoke up: "Yes, a marriage. But no, not with Amelia."

Woolsey and John looked intently at Ronon to try to understand him. Who did he want to marry, then?

"I think it would be of great importance for you. You're my superior and my friend: my duty is to make sure you are well" The Satedan declared with a concerned voice.

Sheppard choked on his own saliva at what had been just said. "What?! So you're asking me to marry you?"

A simple nod was the big guy's answer.

Woolsey was flabbergasted; he simply didn't know what to say or how to react.

Sheppard got agitated: "And what do you insinuate by 'well'?!"

Ronon stood tall and continued with his speech: "On Sateda, because of war, children were to be born with both parents. If not, a person needed to act as a substitute parent to the one missing, to ensure a strong family unit."

"We are not on Sateda, we-"

"-I am honoring the tradition," the tall man explained, "as McKay does not want to be father of the child-"

"-dammit, Ronon! ...Shut up! I don't care! I'm going to give it for adoption anyway!" Sheppard spun on his heels, hands gripping his hair, ready to tear it away. As he walked away from the glass-walled office, he yelled. "The kid's barely showing itself that they're already deciding what's best for it. I can't believe it!" he finished, with a scoff.

"I'll leave you some time to think about it!" Woolsey added, before John was out of hearing.

Ronon stayed silent and let the other man leave the small office. He knew Sheppard would come to his senses and accept his offer.

The older man huffed: "You could have told me that this was what you wanted to talk about."

"Why? It doesn't matter. This is serious stuff."

The Atlantis leader made a solemn face: "Ronon. You should know that same sex marriages is not common thing, back on Earth."

"So?" the Satedan asked bluntly.

The older man sighed: "The US military doesn't… agree much with that. I doubt they would agree to your proposition."

"I don't care."

That remark made Woolsey chuckle: "I know. That's why I will ask you to let the colonel cool off. He's obviously been having a bad morning, so I suggest you wait until he talks to you about it."

Ronon's impassive form didn't move. "Fine. But I'm still saying that it would be an advantage for him to do this."

...o.o.o...

Sheppard was walking toward his quarters, when he met McKay.

The scientist saw the fuming colonel, and yet didn't realize it was not the moment to ask: "Hey, you okay?"

If looks could kill, Rodney would be dead by the intensity Sheppard put into his gaze. "Not the time, McKay." And he continued his way.

"Wait!" He ran after John. "Stop being rude and tell me what's wrong!" he commanded.

Sheppard stopped abruptly and turned around: "You wanna know what's wrong?!"

Rodney stepped away slightly, not sure if he still wanted to. "Huh, yeah… sure."

Taking a calming breath, the colonel shot out: "_Why_ would you want to know?"

The blue-eyed man was taken aback by his friend's question: "Well, huh… because I… because it's polite?"

John laughed sarcastically. "Sure. If you're so curious, Ronon has asked me…" he paused, realizing how stupid it sounded, "He asked me to marry him, in order for my" he cringed at saying it out loud, "… child to have two parents." He then rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the whole situation. _And_ because he was telling all of this to Rodney.

Rodney sputtered: "What! Who the hell does he think he is?!"

The other man's reaction surprised John. "Yeah, well whatever. And on top of that my pants don't fit me anymore."

"This is ridiculous, he can't do that" McKay continued to ramble on. "And if your pants don't fit, just order some larger ones."

"And who gives you the power to say he can't do that?" Sheppard frowned. "The army probably have maternity pants that'd fit my uniform."

This stopped all of Rodney's frantic thoughts. "What? Wait, are you telling me that you've considered his offer?" he said, almost frantically.

"No" John said, with an evasive tone.

McKay gasped and then his eyes widened: "You _are_ thinking about accepting!"

"Look… no! It's not that." He sighed as he passed a hand through his hair. "It's just that… if something happens to me, at least the kid's gonna have another parent. And one that is not native to the Milky Way, so they'll be able to stay here, on Atlantis."

McKay's blue eyes scanned Sheppard's hazel ones, trying to see if he was serious about it.

"And why would _you_ care about what Ronon wants to do?"

A bit of spluttering was made from Rodney's part before he answered. "I… Because -because I'm your friend, and I strongly disagree with that" he said, straightening up in confidence.

"Because you're my _friend_?" John wanted to roll his eyes. "Okay, whatever" he said as he turned around to leave. "It's not your decision, after all."

The last sentence made Rodney's heart skip a beat. He didn't know what to answer to that, so he let John walk away. He stayed in the corridor for a minute, taking in what had just happened. A wave of sadness hit him, but he shook it off, having other things to do. He continued his way to the labs.

* * *

Hey there everyone! Sorry for the long wait. First, school started, meeting my new students getting my stuff together... bla bla bla... AND on top of that, I started playing Mass Effect 2 (which is amazing!); but this also got me back writing this (since it's in space and all and the Collectors remind me of the Wraiths lol).

About the chapter, again, many words, but nothing much happening lol. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoyed the reading!

I also wanted to thank Aki-chan and LIGHTSNSHADOWS for reviewing and all the others that added this story to their alert list :)


	10. Good Intentions

**Good Intentions?**

After his encounter with Ronon and Rodney, John had some trouble focusing on anything else. So he decided to visit Alexander. The young man's quarters weren't far from his own; he was studying at his desk, focused on his book when he heard the doorbell. "Come in!" he yelled and unlocked the door with his gene.

As John entered, Alexander noted how confused his 'mother' seemed. "Hey what's wrong?" he asked, as he put down the book he was using.

The older man sat on the bed and sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I'd tell you" he said, with a small chuckle.

When Alexander frowned, John started recounting about Ronon's proposition and Rodney's reaction from about an hour earlier.

As soon as he was finished, he simply said: "How weird is that, huh."

"Yeahhhh… I don't know. I do think that, in some way, Ronon is trying to show his support -although I'm surprised he went as far as propose to you- but it could also be because he wants to piss dad off" the young man shrugged.

John made a face. "Well piss Rodney off, it did." He chuckled lightly: "You should have seen his face when he realized I was thinking about it. Priceless."

This resulted in a snort from Alexander. Maybe Ronon was actually helping him getting his 'parents' together. Mhmm. This could be interesting. He made a mental note of visiting the Satedan to try to understand his motives better.

...o.o.o...

"Knock, knock!" Alexander shouted humorously, outside Ronon's apartment.

"Come in."

A loud whoosh was heard when the large door slid open. "How ya doing, big man?"

Ronon looked up from his seat on his bed. "Good. How about you?" He resumed his task, which was cleaning his gun.

The younger man shrugged nonchalantly: "Yeaaah, doing fine." He looked around, trying to come up with something to bring up his subject: "Hey, mom told me something funny…"

He waited to see how the Satedan would react, but Ronon only made a noncommittal noise.

So he continued: "Yeah, huh… I heard that you proposed to mo- errr colonel Sheppard?"

Ronon chuckled and paused for a moment. "Yeah. So what?" He looked up briefly to look at Alexander. "You came to tell me of your disapproval?"

A smirk appeared on Alexander's face as he answered: "No, but I was curious as to why you did it."

A flash of annoyance made its way in the tall man's eyes. He grunted lightly: "Why not? Sheppard's a good man and he doesn't deserve being alone for this." He started intently at the gun in his hands. "No one deserves being rejected. I did it with only good intentions."

"And so you decided, out of the blue, 'hey why not ask for the colonel's hand?'" An amused frown marred his boyish face.

Ronon finished cleaning his gun, so he put down the cloth he had been using and got up to place the weapon in its back holster. He sighed. "Don't worry, I've got no other intention than making sure Sheppard is going to have someone to help him out." He paused for a second. "If it makes you wonder, I would have done the same for Teyla if we wouldn't have found her people and Canaan. With Sateda destroyed, my team here is my new family, and I'd support them through anything."

Alexander looked satisfied with Ronon's answer, so he approached the door to leave.

"Oh yeah, and the other reason is…"

That sentence made the young man stop in his tracks, out of curiosity. "The other reason _is_?"

A huge smirk spread on Ronon's face: "… because I like pissing McKay off."

And with that, Alexander left, laughing.

...o.o.o...

After his encounter with John, Rodney went back to his lab. He couldn't understand how the whole situation was getting to him. It shouldn't. But knowing that Sheppard was considering Ronon's offer of marriage, it made him uneasy. He put on a poker face, as another scientist entered the lab as well. He logged into his session and tried to focus on the work that needed to be done. He stared at the screen for a while, not being able to concentrate. The scientist left, leaving McKay alone again.

He sighed. He put his face into his hands. Alone, like how he'd been feeling for the past months. Alone, because his friendship with John was put on hold because of the incident with the fertility machine. Alone, because every time he'd talk about it with Jennifer, it'd always end up as a shouting match. Not to mention his relationship with his 'son', which was also strained.

_He felt trapped in his own life._

"Dammit."

He choked back a sob. He stared at the screen in front of him again, but it quickly became blurry because of the tears in his eyes. He cried silently for a minute. He then tried to gain back a certain dignity and dried his tears. He was thankful no one had entered the lab.

Feeling a sudden wave of tiredness after letting go of his tears, he folded his arms on his desk to rest his head against them, and decided to shut his eyes for just a minute.

_Sitting on a sofa, Rodney took in his surroundings. On the floor, near him, a little boy was playing with some toys, talking to himself. He took notice of the toddler's appearance: dark unruly hair, large blue eyes, slightly pointed eyes. The scene left Rodney feeling warm and comfortable. _

_The small boy looked up at him and smiled, and Rodney smiled back. _

_But then a feminine voice boomed into his ears: "What is _he _doing here?!" And Jennifer appeared out of no where. _

_The child put his hands on his ears to block the sound. He started to cry as Jennifer got closer to him._

"_Why, Rodney? I don't want to see him here" she expressed angrily._

_Rodney wanted to say something, but his voice was barely above a whisper. _

_Sheppard appeared, and the little boy ran to him. He lifted the child into his arms and kissed the top of his head. Hazel eyes looked at McKay's blue ones; he turned around and disappeared into thin air._

_He had left him with a still yelling Jennifer. "Rodney! Listen to me! Rodney!"_

"Rodney!?"

He woke up, startled by hands shaking his shoulders. He looked up and saw Jennifer.

She was looking at him, with a large smile: "Fell asleep, huh?"

He cleared his throat and sat straight up. "Yeah, been having some trouble sleeping at night" he admitted.

She passed a hand in his hair, in a caring manner. "You poor thing. Maybe it's just stress because of the job, want me to prescribe you some sleeping pills?"

He shook his head: "No, I'll be fine." He missed, however, the warmth from his dream; he had felt content and happy. He looked in Jennifer's eyes, seeing genuine feelings and warmth as well; a warmth that was directed at him, but he didn't feel like returning it.

_He felt trapped in his own life_. Yeah, definitely. "Dammit" he whispered so softly that it didn't reach Keller's ears.

...o.o.o...

A few days later, Alexander was assigned to a mission with Lorne's team. They were supposed to help out another team that was in need on a planet. He was nervous to work with the major again, having flashes of the mission on the Khajiit planet. He fiddled with the straps of his medical backpack; his role was assisting Dr Beckett to treat the wounded.

The young man noticed, as Lorne walked towards him, how the team leader sent him a look.

"Alexander" Evan greeted him, accompanied of a brief nod.

"Hello, major."

Lorne shot a quick look at the young medic's abdomen. A memory flashed in front of his eyes:

_Leaving his quarters, ready for his shift, Evan noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor. He picked it up and read it:_

'_It was lost in a lab accident. But you don't have to worry, everything is fine. _

_- Alexander'_

_At first, Lorne didn't understand the message. What was lost? And why was he telling him this? So he re-read it, this time out loud. It then dawned on him. Alexander was talking about the baby. But… he had lost it? He frowned, thinking how awful it must had felt for the young man. However, he was a little relieved that he wouldn't be faced with… parental responsibilities. He folded the paper and put it inside his vest before resuming his journey._

Woolsey then signaled Chuck to dial the gate. "I wish you good luck, everyone. Don't forget to give radio contact in two hours."

"Will do, sir" Lorne answered promptly.

"And be careful, you guys. Smith's team was, and yet they got injured" Sheppard said, as he approached the group.

"Promise!" Alexander responded. "See you later, mom." He bent towards John's rounded belly: "See you later, little brother or sister!"

This got Sheppard to blush from embarrassment; Lorne and his team snickered slightly and Carson simply laughed out loud.

After the team departed, John decided to go to the mess hall to get lunch.

...o.o.o...

Ronon came into the mess hall, searching for Sheppard, knowing that the man was pretty much hungry all the time. Turning around the corner to get to the room, he saw McKay, sitting with the pregnant Colonel. The Satedan stared, staying in the shadows to see how McKay would handle the 'delicate' emotions of the Colonel.

"So…" Rodney started.

Sheppard rose an eyebrow: "So?"

"Well, how are you faring with this… condition?" the Canadian said, not really wanting to go there, but knowing that it was considered polite to ask.

John scoffed: "Why bothering to ask? I thought you said that you didn't really care about… us. Is it because of Ronon's offer?" He looked down at his plate, not wanting the scientist to see through him by looking at his eyes.

The tall man could see from afar that the conversation was making John uncomfortable. And he didn't like it; John wasn't to get troubled. He decided to wait before intervening, to see how it would go.

Talking with his hands, Rodney answered: "I asked with good intentions only. I _would_ care, Colonel, were we in another situation. It's just that I'm already in a relationship with Jennifer and she…" He winced, not really wanting to finish that sentence.

Sheppard rose the same eyebrow, not really liking the way Rodney had stopped in mid-sentence. "_Rodney_" he warned him to finish what he was saying, even though his heart was squeezing at the several ideas that went through his mind. "What did Keller say?" his voice rising at each pronounced word.

Rodney scowled, looking down at the table. His eyes didn't focus on a sole point, as if debating with himself to decide if he should run or go ahead and be honest with Sheppard. He closed his eyes before opening them again: "She… she said that if she would have been in Woolsey's place, she would have forced you to abort the pregnancy. Shealsosaidthatyoushouldleav eAtlantis" he shot out, the last sentence. He then sighed, knowing that the secret was out.

Sheppard's breath hitched and he covered his face with his hands. Not one sound escaped from him, but it was easy to see that John was upset.

Ronon growled. That was it; he was coming in. Walking fast toward the table the two men were seated at, he scared away the other people in the mess. "McKay!" he growled, knowing very well that this was all it took for Rodney to understand what he wanted to say.

Rodney squeaked ungracefully at the threat and covered his head.

"Sheppard" Ronon said, soothingly. He put a large hand on the sitting Colonel's shoulder and glared at McKay to shoo him away.

Rodney was getting up when Sheppard said something that made Rodney freeze in mid-air: "What is _your_ real opinion about this, Rodney? Not _Jennifer's_. _Yours._ Huh?" he asked, angry. Putting down his hands on the table, he looked at the scientist straight in the eye.

"I- huh- look" was the first answer he got. The scientist sat back on the plastic chair: "Look, _John_. What I told you two minutes ago _is_ my real opinion." Again, with that same discourse. "But Jennifer has the right to her opinion, no matter how negative it is."

Sheppard straightened his body and put a hand on his belly. "I… know Rodney, but it doesn't erase the fact that this child was not the result of us cheating behind her back. It was an accident." Although, at some point he wished it wouldn't have been an accident, thinking that things probably would have been less complicated; Rodney would be on his side. He got up and turned away from McKay: "And I wasn't going to kill an innocent life because of a _mistake_. Jennifer is a grown woman _and _a medical doctor, she should understand that." With that, he left, closely followed by Ronon.

Rodney was sitting there alone, his gaze fixed on the man that had complicated his whole life; and _that_ wasn't since the conception of that baby, no. It had been like this, although not as intense, since the moment they met, in Antarctica: the moment the pilot sat on that Ancient chair. Nothing had been the same after that point.

As he walked, John angrily rubbed his face with his hands.

"You okay, Sheppard?" Ronon asked, knowing very well the answer; Sheppard would try to hide his emotions, and the conversation would end there.

"No" was the short reply.

Ronon stopped in his tracks. John had admitted, for once, how he was truly feeling, no faked 'I'm fine'. "Well," the Satedan didn't really know where to go with that, "wanna talk about it?" Alexander told him that the colonel usually was shy to talk about his own feelings, not wanting to bother others with them -or appear weak doing so. He cringed; emotions and stuff like that were Teyla's talents, not his.

"No."

Nodding, the Satedan knew that at least, John was improving in this whole emotion department.

...o.o.o...

Two days later, Sheppard was sitting at his desk in his office, filling out some forms about new recruits being transferred from Earth to be trained. Tapping the pen against the desk, he heard someone approach the small room.

He looked up, to greet whoever was coming his way. "Hi-" he started, but stopped when he saw the person.

"Good afternoon, colonel" Keller said, tight-lipped.

John was about to ask her what she needed, when she stated: "I don't know what happened between you and Rodney. But he's been acting weird for the past few days." She stood there, hands on her hips. Her body language screamed 'angry'. "What did you say to him?!"

The man frowned. He put down the pen he was using. He then looked up at the blonde woman: "You're gonna have to be more precise than that. I don't understand what you mean; I did nothing."

"Don't play dumb with me" Jennifer shot out. "That thing with Ronon's proposal. You only told Rodney to make him jealous." Her eyes closed slightly, in a menacing way.

Sheppard rose an eyebrow: "Make him _jealous_? Seeing you here right now, gives me the impression that it made you jealous." This made Jennifer humph, so he continued: "If you want to know, _Rodney_ was the one who insisted to know what was wrong. So, Dr. Keller, if you don't need anything else, I have stuff to do. Please leave." He picked up his pen and pretended to continue reading his report. "Intimidation won't work on me, you see. I know you don't like me. But as you are aware, Rodney is with you, not me."

The petite doctor was about to make a storm and empty her emotional bag at that moment.

But Teyla entered the office at the same time. "Colonel Shep-" She stopped in mid-sentence, sensing the tension in the room. "-pard. Hum… Maybe I should come back later?" She had a feeling she shouldn't; something told her Jennifer wasn't there with good intentions.

The colonel shook his head: "No, she was about to leave" he said, hoping Keller got the message.

The said woman left, saying only: "There is no word strong enough to express how I feel about you and this stupid baby."

As soon as she was out of hearing range, John released a shaky breath.

"Are you feeling well, John?" Teyla asked, concerned. She walked toward the man to put a hand on his shoulder. She looked at the spot where Jennifer had been standing a minute before: "Did she do something… to hurt you?" With all her heart, the Athosian woman wished the answer to be negative.

A quick sign of the head was Sheppard's answer. He sighed. No physical bruises, but all these emotions were getting the best of him. "I'm tired of this shit, Teyla. It can't continue this way." He got up to leave his office, tears barely restrained. "I'll be at my quarters, taking a nap" he simply said, as he walked by his friend.

Teyla stood there, sadness tugging at her heart to see John in pain.

...o.o.o...

After that emotional bout, John sat in his apartments to ponder on what happened earlier. He knew that this whole situation was complicated. He never doubted that, the moment he said that he'd keep the fetus, things would change; people would change. However, he didn't think Jennifer Keller would be one of those people that are actually disgusted by him and that child. He knew she wouldn't like it, but not to the point of hating him.

Putting a hand to his stomach, he could feel the soft feather feeling of the baby kicking under his palm. Smiling, he looked outside his window, looking at the immense sea in front of him. Atlantis was his home, but he wondered what was happening on Earth; he only had Dave, his brother, and his ex-wife Nancy. As if any of these two could understand what was happening to him. He scoffed: Nancy never wanted children and he didn't think it would change now, especially if he was the one bearing it. And Dave… Dave was a man. Of course he wouldn't understand what he's going through.

He chuckled dryly; it's not like those had clearance anyways. Sitting up straight, he realized he knew one person who wasn't living on Atlantis that he could talk freely with: Jeannie, McKay's sister. He let himself fall back slowly on the pillow. No, he couldn't go talk to her; he sighed. How could he explain the situation to Jeannie without having Rodney posed as the 'big meannie' because he was -in a way- rejecting him? There was also the fact that he was now showing a little and people would probably ask why he's 'chubby' in the middle, but not elsewhere.

He had to find an excuse to leave the Ancients' city, however.

...o.o.o...

A few weeks later, he had his opportunity.

"Well looks like you're having a little girl, colonel. Congratulations!" Carson said happily.

Sheppard took a moment to let that sink in. At first, he hadn't wanted to know the baby's gender, when Carson had first offered to tell him. But after being pestered by Alexander everyday, he had decided, that morning, to see with his own eyes what was awaiting him. He still wasn't a hundred percent sure he'd keep the baby, so it didn't matter that much. "So, a girl, huh?"

The doctor nodded and smiled widely. He wiped the gel off the colonel's abdomen. "I wanted to tell you that I am leaving for Stargate command, tomorrow. They seem to have encountered a new type of flu on a planet they recently visited and they want me to take a look at it. I learned about that only this morning. I'll be doing my suitcase tonight" Carson said, as he finished.

Pulling his shirt back down, John declared with resolve: "I'll go with you."

To which, the doctor raised an eyebrow: "To do what? By no means I wish to insult you, colonel; but you can't walk freely on Earth. It's already a taboo subject for some people here... and they're used to weird stuff. So, imagine on Earth. And you're almost six months along, so I don't see what you could do to help."

Sheppard tried to find a reason to leave Atlantis. "I... dunno, don't you need help for... something? Anything?"

Beckett stopped what he was doing and took a deep breath. He looked at John who looked desperate to find a reason to leave. He knew about the growing tension between the colonel and a certain scientist. He sighed: "Well, for someone in your 'special' condition... I don't think letting you out of my sight is wise. I'll tell SGC that you'll be coming with me; think of it as a maternity leave. Writing reports is not too much for you, eh?"

Oh the joy: more paperwork. But at least he wouldn't have to face Rodney and talk to him anymore. John agreed quickly, happy at having an opportunity.

* * *

Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait, I had big health problems from October till the end of November, but now I'm feeling better.

So here's the most difficult part of the story. Sheppard will leave Atlantis. But don't worry, he'll be back soon hehe. He had to leave in order for the story to continue :)

I also wanted to thank Babsca (btw I changed 'american army' to 'US military', is that okay?) for their review. It's really awesome to see that people are liking this story :)


	11. Conceding

**Conceding**

It had been decided that colonel Carter would travel with the Daedalus to take John's military position while he was away. She was the best choice, having worked on Atlantis a few years back; she was also excited to be able to see the members of the expedition.

"Are you sure about this, colonel?" Teyla asked, sad to see him leave.

The colonel nodded. "Yeah, it'll do me some good to change air. But I plan to come back, as soon as Junior pops out."

"Very well then," she gave up. "But take care of yourself and the little one, John." She then put her hands on his shoulders, and connected their foreheads in the Athosian manner.

"Will do… mom" Sheppard joked as he pulled back.

He then turned to Ronon, he could only smile. "Thanks for having my back, buddy. But it seems it wasn't enough to keep me here."

The Satedan nodded. They gave each other a _manly_ hug that said it all.

It was then Woolsey's turn to say goodbye to the colonel. They shook hands and he said: "Have a safe travel to Earth. And tell General O'Neill I say 'hi'."

Then, Alexander came down the stairs, out of breath: "Wait! I wanna go too!" He ran by everyone to reach his mother. He had a small backpack hanging on his shoulder and a computer tablet in his hands.

"Alexander" John started slowly. He put his hands on the young man's shoulders: "I want you to stay here and keep an eye on your fath..." he cleared his throat loudly, "huh Rodney, yes. Keep an eye on Rodney for me, will ya? And be careful not to get into trouble."

Alexander scoffed at John's mistake but nodded nonetheless. "Sure... _mom_. But you be careful too, okay? I wouldn't want you to stress over all this."

"Over what?" John asked.

But he didn't have time for an answer, as Carson asked "You ready, colonel?" from a few meters away.

Sheppard nodded and Alexander hugged him, swearing that he'd have an eye out for McKay.

As Sheppard was waiting for the ancient city's gate to dial, he turned back and saw the people he held dear waving him goodbye. Everyone except Rodney. And that hurt John's heart. He knew that even though his trust towards the man had been damaged, he still wanted him to be there at that moment, in the gate room.

The gate made a loud 'whoosh' as the connection with Earth was made. Sighing, Sheppard took the handle of his wheeled luggage. Putting a hand on his belly, he took a deep breath and stepped through the gate with Carson.

On the other side, he was greeted by General O'Neill himself. He saluted the man the best he could with his luggage.

For a few seconds, the general didn't say much. He was estranged by the fact that he had seen a pregnant man in his life, and now could say that he'd seen it all. "Welcome back, colonel Sheppard, Dr Beckett."

John breathed in deeply, anxious to be back on Earth, far from his home.

...o.o.o...

Back on Atlantis, the only people left in front of the gate were Alexander and Ronon; the others had gone back to their occupations.

"He left, after all."

"Yeah, I guess it's better this way, he's gonna be safe on Earth" the young man admitted. "Wraiths can't reach Earth."

The tall Satedan shrugged. "I guess you're right."

"He should take some time to visit aunt Jeannie. I'm sure she'd be glad to see him" Alexander declared.

"Knowing Sheppard, he won't go. He's probably afraid of Jeannie's reaction if she learns about the father of the baby."

Alexander agreed: "Yeah, too bad no one is there to force him to do it."

Ronon then had an idea, but needed some time to prepare for it. It would however have to wait for the Daedalus to come back.

...o.o.o...

A few weeks later, team SGA-01 was on M7G-677, the children's planet.

"Welcome back, Doctor McKay!" Keras said warmly, as they shook hands. He then turned to Jennifer and took her hands into his: "We thank you very much for taking your time to come see some patients, Doctor Keller."

"It's nothing, anyway it's been a while since visited. I wanted to see how everyone is doing" she smiled back politely. "I also brought an assistant, Nathalie, to help me to make sure I am able to see as many patients as possible."

The assistant waved her hand and smiled widely.

"Good!" Keras made a gesture for everyone to follow him: "Let's all go to my hut, there we'll be able to guide you to the patients, Dr Keller."

She nodded.

While they walked, Keras noted: "I see that your team leader, colonel Sheppard is not with you today?"

Ronon smirked at Rodney knowingly.

McKay mumbled a quick answer: "No, he's back on our home planet. He'll be staying there for a while." He then glared at Ronon, to dare the man to speak up.

"Oh, well that's too bad" the village leader smiled. "It would have been nice to chat with him."

The scientist made a face, but didn't comment further.

...o.o.o...

"This is my wife, Hanka, and my son, Deras." Hanka was a tall, brown-haired woman with a warm smile. Deras was around twelve to fourteen months old and had his father's looks.

"Oh! What a cute baby!" Nathalie, Jennifer's medical assistant, chirped happily beside Rodney. She smiled widely. "Dr McKay is also going to be a dad soon!" she let out innocently, in the spur of the moment.

Which made Ronon snort. He wanted to see what the scientist would have to say.

But in Rodney's head, thoughts were spinning madly. Okay, what to answer? Quick! "Huh," he stopped, as he knew that everything would go bad from there. He couldn't escape the situation, so he had to dive right in: "Yeah" he was able to mutter awkwardly.

"Soon?" Keras said, as he sent a look at Jennifer; she didn't look much pregnant to him. "Ah, Doctor McKay, you must be a very impatient man!" he laughed heartedly. He then promptly hugged Jennifer and slapped the scientist on the shoulder: "Congratulations! I'm sure you'll make fine parents!"

Nathalie blinked, confused: "But-"

"-Nathalie, please" Jennifer swiftly cut in. She then glared at her, to make sure she got the message.

Then a strained silence installed itself; Rodney was starting to sweat and look panicked. Jennifer held her breath, not liking the awkward situation their were now in.

Ronon decided to be a little mean to the scientist and cleared his throat impatiently, shooting him a knowing look at the same time.

Rodney sent a menacing look to the tall Satedan and was about to blurt out the truth, when he changed idea: "Yeah, haha, I'm impatient, I guess. She's still early in the pregnancy" he lied. He looked at Keras, anxious to see if the man had bought his story.

And it seemed so. "Well! I know how anxious we can get when something as joyous as this is going to happen!"

Rodney continued to fake happiness, but couldn't stop the uneasiness slowly creeping into his heart. Lying never was his forte. And lying to a friend like Keras seemed so… pathetic.

"So, then. Let us catch up on things and Hanka will show Dr Keller where our patients are kept. I'm sure the other women will be happy to see her" the leader said with a warm smile.

The Canadian sent a worried look at Jennifer; what next?

...o.o.o...

"Are you okay, Dr Keller?" Hanka asked worriedly, as she noticed the blond woman's strange facial expression. "Are you feeling ill?" She brought the young child higher on her hip.

Jennifer shook her head. "No, I'm… fine." She forced a smile, to reassure the other woman. "Just lost in my thoughts."

"Oh, okay."

As they walked, Jennifer couldn't help feel uneasy about the whole story. She knew that Hanka was a stranger to her, but she felt that the tall woman deserved to know. But how to bring up the subject without appearing too weird?

Just like that, Hanka asked with a warm smile: "Are you nervous about having your first child?" She looked at her own son, and stroke his soft hair.

Keller stopped dead in her tracks, so fast, that her assistant, Nathalie, stumbled into her superior's back.

"Oops! Sorry doctor, didn't see you there!"

Jennifer apologized to Nathalie as well. She then looked at Hanka; her mouth twitched slightly: "You see, hum… Hanka…" She wasn't sure how to formulate all this. "We… haven't been 100% honest earlier."

The brown-haired woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't say anything at first.

That made Jennifer uneasy.

After a short pause, Hanka wisely said: "Why don't we sit down. There's a small clearing nearby. You can tell me what's bothering you; the patients can wait a little more."

As they sat down, Jennifer gave Nathalie the hint to leave them alone for a while.

The young assistant then asked if Hanka wanted her to take care of Deras while they talked, saying that she loved children. The older woman agreed and they were left alone.

The brown-haired woman then calmly brought up the subject: "What is it that you are hiding, Dr Keller?"

Jennifer lowered her head in shame: "Well…" She inhaled deeply: "Rodney will soon be a father. That, is true. But I am not the one having the child."

Hanka looked at the other woman intently, confusion evident in her eyes.

The young doctor then sighed: "Another person of our expedition, is."

"I don't want to sound mean by asking this, but how come she and Dr McKay aren't together anymore?"

Jennifer scoffed lightly. "That's because they never were in a relationship… at least not a real one. And because all of this was an accident. That stupid Ancient machine impregnated Sheppard and that's when everything went haywire."

Hanka frowned: "Sheppard? As in colonel Sheppard? The _man_ that is your team leader?"

The blond woman's silence meant it all.

"I… huh, don't know what to say…" the woman blushed slightly.

Jennifer made a sour face: "That's okay. Most people react like you just did. A man, pregnant." She scoffed: "That's simply too unnatural."

Hanka was still under the initial shock: "But how did it happen? Two men-"

"-Please! Don't finish that sentence! I can't stand the picture of Rodney and Sheppard t-together." She shivered slightly. "It was all because of an Ancient machine. They didn't need to… you know." Keller frowned. "I still can't believe that this is all happening."

"Why are you so upset? You just told me that it was an accident, right?"

"… Yes. But the problem is that Sheppard has feelings for Rodney" Jennifer confessed unwillingly. Wow, admitting something that she had been holding back for so long felt weird. It was like some weight got off her shoulders.

"Oh." The younger woman then made a face: "Well it's not that bad, Dr McKay could also have feelings for the colonel."

But then again, Jennifer's silence meant a lot of things. She put her face in her hands: "I feel like a second place winner." She lifted her head and kicked a small nearby rock. "Dammit! I don't know what to think anymore!" she said, sobbing angrily.

Hanka then side-hugged her, making shushing sounds to calm her: "Now, Dr Keller. I don't see why you feel this way; I can see that Dr McKay loves you."

Jennifer sniffed loudly. "Really?"

The brown-haired woman hesitated, but nodded nonetheless.

...o.o.o...

In that same village, Rodney was having a small talk with Keras, about stuff around Atlantis and some discoveries they had made.

All of this, under the watchful eyes of Ronon.

The scientist could feel the gaze burning the back of his head.

Keras as in the middle of a sentence when McKay snapped: "Could you stop doing that?!" he yelled, without turning to face the tall man.

At first, the village leader thought the scientist was talking to him. "Huh, I- sorry?"

Ronon started to chuckle: "Why don't you tell him, McKay? It's been bothering since earlier."

"Tell me what?" Keras asked, curious.

Ronon looked at Rodney's mortified face, and admitted: "McKay hasn't told you everything about him being a future father…"

A rise of the eyebrow was the only reaction from Keras' part.

Panic invaded the scientist and he started mumbling and getting flustered in the face. "I huh… look, I'm sorry Keras, okay? I know I shouldn't have lied. But… Jennifer, she isn't very happy with the whole situation…"

"I'm not sure I understand, Dr McKay. Are you telling me that this child is not wanted by Dr. Keller?" he young man asked, confused.

Rodney sat down on a nearby chair. "The situation is slightly more complicated than that. Yes, Jennifer doesn't want the baby, but that's because she's not the one who's pregnant."

"Is it because you cheated on Dr. Keller?"

Rodney looked at Ronon who had a huge smile on his face, and replied: "Not really. It was an accident. I huh… an Ancient machine impregnated colonel Sheppard using my DNA."

Keras was speechless for a minute. When he gained his senses, all he could say was: "A man, pregnant?"

Rodney nodded. "Yes, as ridiculous as it may sounds."

"No! You don't understand! This is… amazing!" the young leader exclaimed.

The scientist was taken aback by that response. "I think I need to sit down."

"Can't you see? A man, able to go through that amazing process of life; something that up to now, only women had been able to feel."

Rodney brought his palm to his forehead, in a desperate manner: "You don't seem to grasp my situation here. Sheppard, our _team leader_, is pregnant with… with… my _child_. And we're not in a relationship. I'm with Jennifer. And so, this complicates everything. Like Jennifer says, it's _unnatural_."

"It may be unusual, but it's not a bad thing. But… why not try to live all together?" Keras asked.

That's when Ronon chuckled. "Dr Keller doesn't want Sheppard in her way. She's jealous of him."

Rodney sputtered at the Satedan's statement: "She's not jealous!"

Ronon rose an eyebrow, but said nothing.

The scientist simply disregarded this, and said: "Whatever. Can we please change the subject?" All this talk about Sheppard and Keller made him uneasy.

Sensing the rising tension in the room, Keras nodded and switched to talk about the village's shield.

...o.o.o…

That night, as Hanka and Keras laid in bed, they thought about their friends, of Atlantis.

"I wonder how all of this will conclude" the man said, as he snuggled closer to his wife.

She answered sleepily, eyes already closed: "Sadly, I think that Dr Keller will be hurt, in the end."

Keras sighed sadly. "You think so, too?"

"Hmm. I think that Dr McKay is really confused, and Jennifer is a victim of circumstances that she can't control."

The man sighed as sleep was claiming him. "Hopefully, this child will be loved, no matter what."

Hanka smiled widely: "If colonel Sheppard cares of it like he cares for his team, I have no doubts."

* * *

So here's another chapter, although this one's shorter. Next, we'll see what's happening on Earth with Sheppard.

I hope you enjoyed and please review to tell me if you liked it :)

Thanks to jj227 for leaving a review!


	12. Down to Earth

**Down to Earth**

It was evening on the mainland, and Teyla was celebrating another good harvest, surrounded by her family and the rest of the Athosians.

A bonfire was made, and kids were dancing around it, laughing and playing.

The Athosian leader was sitting by the fire on a bench, bouncing her son on her knee. The toddler was giggling madly, having the time of his life. She then took him in her arms lovingly and kissed the top of his head.

She glanced at Canaan, who was talking with other men of the village, Alexander by his side. The said young man happened to look at her at the same time; he winked at her, which made her smile. She was pleased to see that the young man was trying to communicate with others more; ever since Sheppard had left for Earth, Alexander had been somewhat socially withdrawn.

But from the corner of her eye, she saw a shadowed figure. Frowning, trying to see who it was, she felt relieved when she saw who it was. "Dr McKay?"

Coming into the bonfire's light, the scientist looked like hell.

Teyla gasped as she saw some blood trickling from the man's lip, which was bruising. "What happened, Rodney?" She motioned him to sit beside her. "Let me take a look at this" she said, as she put a hand on his chin to examine the bloody lip. She sighed. "Did you trip on something and fall?" she asked. But she had a feeling that it wasn't the result of an accident.

The scientist's breath itched. His eyes were full of pain. "She left me" was the only thing he whispered. He closed his eyes and let some tears fall. "I didn't know who to go to, Teyla. I'm sorry to bother you with this."

The Athosian woman side-hugged Rodney: "You came to the right person. I'm sorry to hear about this. How did it happen?" she asked, with a calming voice. She had known it would happen one day or another, but it still saddened her to know her friend was hurting.

McKay let her hug him; it felt right, like a mother's embrace. He waited before answering, feeling fresh tears coming again; leaning his head on her shoulder, the moment felt right: "We were in her quarters, watching a movie. I've been feeling out of it for a while and she kept nagging about it. When I wouldn't give her a satisfying answer, she brought up the subject of Sheppard's departure to Earth." He stopped there, taking a pause.

At that moment, Torren started yawning and snuggled into his mother's arm.

McKay's gaze settled on the toddler: "She started saying that now that Sheppard had left, she was starting to think that maybe there was something between him and I. And I tried to defend my point of view, but she would have none of it. Then she got up and started yelling such nonsense that I can't remember the words. But right after that, she threw whatever she could lay a hand on. And that's how I got my lip bruised."

"Poor Rodney" Teyla declared. "What has gotten into her lately? This is not the Jennifer I remember from a couple of years ago."

McKay sighed. "I know. I know… she's not the woman I first thought she was too. After throwing me a book, she yelled at me to leave and to never come back to her." He sniffed. "I think she broke down, after all that time." He closed his eyes and let new tears fall silently.

The Athosian woman threaded her fingers into his short hair in a soothing manner. She didn't know what to say to Rodney, so she was there for him, simply because that's what friends do.

A few minutes passed. "I'll- I'll be going. Thanks for listening Teyla. It meant a lot to me" the scientist awkwardly said as he moved to get up.

Her dark eyes following his movements, she inquired: "Are you going to be okay?"

He stood there, and didn't answer immediately. He sighed: "I guess I'll have to." And he left.

She followed with her eyes the figure in the darkness, until she couldn't see him anymore. She started rocking gently her son, to comfort herself. Hopefully, McKay wouldn't do something stupid.

...o.o.o...

Working at a desk, Sheppard was editing some of Carson's notes that were to be given with his report. How he missed going out on the field. He groaned; he missed Atlantis very much. At SGC, the office he occupied didn't have a big window like the one he had, back on the Ancient city. Plus, playing secretary was not his cup of tea; paper was now giving him nausea, on top of the smell of bacon. Sadly, he could not blame the former on his pregnancy.

A knock on the door brought him back to reality. "Come in!" he yelled. Finally something to entertain him! He hoped it wasn't more paperwork, he'd tear his hair off.

When the door opened, John froze on the spot: "What are _you_ doing here?" he said with a beaming smile.

A large smirk appeared on the other person's face: "Missed me, Sheppard?"

The colonel got up to greet the tall man: "I'm sure glad to see you here, big guy. You can't believe how much I'm sick of all that paperwork" he laughed.

"Good, 'cause we're going on a little trip" the Satedan said. "Pack for two days."

Confusion was written all over the dark-haired man's face: "A trip? To where?"

"It's a surprise."

...o.o.o...

"Seriously? Leaving the country? Where are we going?"

"I'm not telling you. I'm taking you to someone you should have visited right after coming back to Earth."

The plane took off and left John wondering.

It was only when they neared the airport that he noticed that they weren't in United States. They were in fact in Canada, Vancouver, more precisely. "You're not telling me that we're going to see McKay's sister?"

Ronon didn't answer, he simply smirked.

"But why?"

"Because you need to talk. And Jeannie is a good listener…_ and_ she has clearance. So you can empty your heart out."

John nodded, but wasn't as confident as his friend towards this 'talk'.

...o.o.o...

It was early in the afternoon when they arrived.

As he knocked on the door of Jeannie's house, Sheppard had a moment of panic and was about to turn around when Ronon put a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and nodded; he couldn't back down now.

Caleb was the one to open the door and welcome the men inside. "Long time no see!" the man said, as he took off their coats.

Madison came in running to see who it was and was a bit disappointed to see that Rodney wasn't with them. Jeannie followed right behind her and was also weirded out by the fact that Rodney wasn't present. However, it immediately disappeared when she took in the Colonel's rather strange appearance; it almost as if he was glowing. "Hi guys," she said with a smile.

Both Sheppard and Ronon greeted her back.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked. Then something crossed her mind: "Did something happen to Meredith?"

"Oh! No no no, don't worry. I actually came… to talk to you."

The woman looked at the colonel with a raised eyebrow. "You came all the way from Atlantis to talk to me?"

John lowered his gaze to Madison, and answered Jeannie: "Well, actually no. I've been on Earth for a few weeks."

"We should sit down, Sheppard isn't supposed to be on his feet too much" the Satedan declared.

The colonel sent him a glare.

"Hum, sure. Here, let's go to the living room, we should be fine" Caleb said, motioning everyone to move into the adjacent room.

The little family sat on the sofa, while Sheppard sat in the armchair, Ronon standing at his side.

For a minute, there was an uncomfortable silence. It was Jeannie who broke it: "Madison, sweetheart, why don't you go play in the yard. Mommy needs to talk with the colonel."

The little girl made a face at being sent away, but did as asked.

"Why don't you go with her, Ronon. You know, so she won't be alone" John said, a bit annoyed with the tall man's mothering attitude.

Ronon sent him a look that meant 'You'd better talk, or else' before leaving to join Madison.

In the living room only Caleb and Jeannie were left.

Sheppard cleared his throat: "Huh you see, I… don't… Actually." He stopped there; it was a lot more difficult than he had thought, back in the plane. So he decided to change his strategy: "You remember that little boy who had come from another dimension, a few years ago?" He hoped they did because he didn't feel like explaining that part again.

Both nodded, anxious to hear the rest.

"Well, you see, it's also kind of happening in this dimension."

When their face was blank from confusion, he clarified: "I'm pregnant, to put it simply. That's why Ronon's been acting weird. He's rather… protective."

And both choked on their saliva.

"So you're… pregnant" Jeannie repeated mindlessly.

Caleb got up quickly and said awkwardly: "I'll… go check on Madison and Ronon." And he promptly left.

Jeannie got her senses back: "Who's the other… parent?" She looked in the direction of the backyard. "Is it Ronon?"

Sheppard was taken by surprise at that supposition. "Huh, no. The… father is actually… M.I.A. It was a marine that had the Ancient gene; it happened so quickly… something came up on the site with the Wraith… we never found him."

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear about this. It must be horrible being a single parent" she said, putting a comforting hand on his knee.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter anyway" he answered automatically. 'You don't know how much you're right, though' he thought. "But I came here is because I needed someone to talk to. As you can tell, there's no other… pregnant _man_ I know. And women who have kids are pretty rare on Atlantis. And our friend Teyla… well her pregnancy has been a… special one; her focus had been on finding the father of her child and her people. "

"So you came to me?" she asked. She felt happy that he had thought of her.

"Yeah" he said, smiling at her. "You're pretty much like family, so I thought 'hey why not?'" He relaxed into the sofa: "As of yet, everything's fine with Junior, but I wanted to talk about it with someone else."

"Is it a girl or a boy? Oh and how far along are you? From what I can see, maybe five or six?" she threw in rapidly. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"A girl. And now I'm in my sixth month" he answered with a smile. Jennifer's enthusiasm was rubbing off on him.

"Do you have an idea for a name?"

John put a hand on his belly. He hesitated before answering: "Not really, haven't put much thought into it, 'cause I'm still not sure I'll keep her."

Jeannie covered her mouth: "Oh! I'm sorry… I should have known; Atlantis isn't a safe place for children, I guess." She then got up: "Would you like some tea? I feel this discussion could last a while longer; you should have come sooner" she said joyfully.

Sheppard felt a lot better then when he arrived; Jeannie was almost like a second family to him. She was the kind of woman that was easy to hang with; quite the opposite of Rodney, actually. "You're right. I'll have to thank Ronon for bringing me here. And yeah, I wouldn't mind a cup of tea. Thank you."

...o.o.o...

Later that day, before dinner, John was taking a quick nap.

Ronon was in the kitchen, helping out Jeannie and Caleb to prepare dinner.

"Ronon, do you know what happened to the father of the Colonel's child?" Jeannie asked, curious to know if the Satedan knew about the subject.

"What do you mean, 'happened'?" the tall man stopped chopping carrots to stare quizzically at the woman.

"Well, earlier John told me that he was Missing In Action…" she bit her lip.

"What? Rodney's fine, he's on Atlantis. He's not M.I.A." Ronon frowned.

Dropping the knife she was holding, she choked on her saliva. "WHAT?! MEREDITH'S THE FATHER!?" Jeannie couldn't believe her ears; John had lied about the baby's _real_ father. "But… why? Why lying to me!? My brother's going to be a father… don't I have the right to know?" she said with a small voice.

Ronon stopped what he was doing: "I… don't think I am the person that can give you the answer to that. The only thing I know for sure…" he trailed, getting Jeannie's full attention, "is that this whole thing has been going on for a long time. There are many obstacles that stop them for getting together."

"Is it that woman… what's her name again… Dr Keller? Meredith's girlfriend?" Jeannie then put a hand on her mouth and frowned; how cruel that whole situation was.

Ronon's eyebrows rose: "What do you mean?"

Caleb stopped putting the table and looked at Ronon: "Jeannie told me how that woman didn't want to try leaving Atlantis to save Meredith. She seems pretty closed-minded."

Ronon grunted: "She cares too much about doing her job and not about huh… how do say this, 'thinking outside the box'?" In the beginning, Ronon had felt attracted to her; but now that he was beginning to see her true nature, he was rather relieved that she had chosen McKay over him. "However, if Sheppard didn't tell you the truth, it's because he was afraid of how you'd react. McKay said that he doesn't want the baby and it hurt Sheppard's feelings."

"How I'd _react_? My brother is going to be a father… I'm happy! That's my reaction. I'm going to have a niece -you see, with Rodney, I thought I'd never have this chance- and I'm ecstatic. And better yet, the colonel is actually my brother-in-law now." She sighed: "But now I see why he lied to me. It mustn't be easy for him."

"That's why he left Atlantis; he couldn't stand Keller's presence and pressure. He has feelings for McKay. McKay thinks he loves Jennifer. It's a complicated situation."

"Poor colonel" Jeannie said, uneasy.

Ronon turned to face the woman: "But Sheppard mustn't know that I told you about Rodney…"

She nodded quickly and got back to her cutting task.

...o.o.o...

It was night, and everyone was asleep. Everyone but Sheppard. He sat up in the bed in Jeannie's friend room. He looked out the window, the same way he did back on Atlantis before coming to Earth. It was midnight and he just woke up from a nightmare; he couldn't go back to sleep… at least not before getting a grasp on reality, to realize that it was all a bad dream and nothing of it really has happened. However, he didn't want to get up, because he knew he'd end up waking up someone. He didn't want Ronon to mother him for nothing either.

Back on Atlantis, when John would wake up in the middle of the night, he could always go to the labs to find company. Of course, it was his heart telling him that he wanted to go see Rodney, but John never really had paid attention to it until now. Now he didn't have Rodney to talk to; on the other hand, it's not like he really wanted to. It had hurt him to know that Rodney was aware of Keller's opinion and yet, never told him the truth. John never thought that Rodney would actually lie to him and that's what had hurt him the most.

The baby kicked slightly and John felt obliged to get up, at least to go to the bathroom, since his bladder was full _and_ because movement seemed to have the power to lull the baby back to sleep.

On his way, he met a very awake Ronon. The tall man had chosen to sleep on the couch in the living room, saying that anything was better than forest floor. John chuckled at the face Jeannie made when she heard that he was willing to take the couch.

As John came back from the bathroom, he stopped in the living room: "Can't sleep, buddy?" he carefully whispered, not to wake anyone.

Ronon shrugged. "'m not really tired, I feel like it should be day, not night" the Satedan answered. Sitting up, he scooted over so John could sit down. He looked at the colonel: "Can't sleep, Sheppard?" he asked him back with a smile.

"Junior here is awake" John said, sighing. "I thought that maybe moving around a bit would help to send her back to sleep," he paused, sensing another punch or kick, "but it doesn't seem to have helped."

"Maybe it's because it's feeling your emotions… or something like that. Your anxiety for not telling Jeannie about McKay."

"Yeahhh. Maybe. Probably not." He sighed. "Okay fine. Maybe a little; I'll tell her in the morning, before we leave."

"Good. We won't need to take the plane, the Daedalus is in Earth's orbit. They leave tomorrow too. We will leave for Atlantis." Ronon's tone did not leave place for arguments.

Sheppard sighed and got up to go back to bed. "Fine. Can't wait for those three weeks stuck in space… yay!" he whispered.

...o.o.o...

At that same time, back on Atlantis, Rodney was sitting in his lab. It was late afternoon, one of the suns was setting. He hadn't slept at all the previous night, and yet, he didn't feel the need to rest. His life was now shattered and the only thing left was work.

Stopping for a second, his mind drifted to Jennifer and what had happened precedent day. He had been told that she was back on Earth; he still didn't fully comprehend how it had happened. John had left, like she had wanted. But yet, she had left anyway.

Maybe his mind would clear up with time, he didn't know. But the city needed him, so he had to concentrate on that for the moment.

Colonel Carter had come to visit him, but he had sent her back, saying that he was fine and that he didn't need anyone coddling him. She had felt rebuked at first, but luckily, she knew McKay's temper was often short in difficult situations, so she forgave him.

However, the next couple of weeks were not going to be easy on Rodney.

* * *

Hi there everyone! Another chapter done! yayz!

Useless fact: a part of this chapter, in which John goes to see Jeannie, had been one of the first scenes I had written for this fic. And that was at least three years ago. Wow, time goes by so fast!

Also, I felt that Rodney was in need of some affection, so I immediately thought of Teyla; she's like a pillar, always there when you need to lean on something. I always liked her character in the series, so I tried my best to write her in-character.

Annnndddd thanks to anthibbs for reviewing! Hopefully this was soon enough! ;)


	13. Failure to Accommodate

**Failure to accommodate  
**

McKay was jerked awake by someone. His eyes snapped open and he looked to identify who had waken him up. He took in his surroundings; he was in his lab.

A petite woman smiled uneasily at him.

"What d'ya want, Miko?" the scientific leader croaked out. He roughly jerked the sleep from his eyes with his palms.

"Dr McKay, you fell asleep during the simulation. We thought you would like to know the results?" she said, lacking confidence when talking to her superior. Her smile faltered, slightly afraid of his answer.

Rodney groaned. He so didn't want to be there at that moment. He straightened his back: "Okay fine, gimme the tablet."

Miko did as asked. She wanted to leave McKay's side to return to her previous task; with her superior's bad mood, she didn't want to stay longer than required. "Can I get back to my task?"

"Yeah, fine" McKay barked, irritated.

He looked at the results. "Not satisfying enough!"

Everyone in the lab froze on the spot. Ever since Dr Keller had left Rodney two weeks earlier, he had been in one of his worst bout of bad mood. They didn't know what to do; usually when something was wrong with their head of department, they would talk with colonel Sheppard and he would brighten their superior's foul attitude. However, since he had left too, they were at loss.

"We'll look into it again, Dr McKay" Miko said, trying to soothe the scientist.

"No need to! Because it seems that to get something done right, you're never better served than by yourself!" he said, irritated.

The scientists around him flinched in fear. They were afraid of what he'd do next.

But Rodney simply stomped around the room in a angry manner, like an ox, ready to destroy everything on his path. "Out of my way!"

Everyone hoped for a crisis to happen and Mr Woolsey to call him so that he would leave the lab. It had helped them out quite often in the past, but it wasn't their lucky day.

...o.o.o...

Mr Woolsey greeted Alexander, as the young man entered his office. He urged him to sit down, as he started explaining the reason for the meeting: "Alexander, I was wondering if you would be interested in a mission with Lorne's team. We are supposed to meet the Geniis. Since colonel Sheppard's been on…" he cleared his throat, "…maternity leave, I'm pretty sure you are bored out of your mind. So?"

Lorne's name still made Alexander nervous; ever since the pregnancy accident, he was always feeling uneasy around him. He however wanted to leave Atlantis; Woolsey was right and he was slowly dying of boredom. "What would be expected of me, during that mission?" He hoped it wouldn't be some

"Well you see, you'd be working with some scientists from our allies, the Geniis. We've worked with them in the past, and they often need our help in developing new technologies. The reason I'm asking if you'd like to go with the team is because they are working on medical problems and I thought it'd interest you."

Alexander was indeed always interested in seeing new things; plus, working with the Geniis would change the pace a bit. So he agreed wholeheartedly: "Thank you for thinking about me for this, Mr Woolsey. I'll gladly accept the invitation."

The leader nodded, delighted. "Very well, then you'll have time to prepare, you leave in three days. It's a two-day mission, so pack accordingly. You'll act as an assistant to Dr. Biro and her colleague, Dr. White; follow their instruction, give them the material… you know random things."

"Very well, sir." The young man nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"No, not for now. You may leave."

Alexander bid him goodbye and left. He was excited to go on a mission, as always.

...o.o.o...

John was currently lying on his back, propped against the wall, reading a book in the small room that had been assigned to him in the Daedalus. He was sharing the cabin with Ronon. The structure was a bunk bed and Ronon had insisted that John slept on the bottom one, so he wouldn't fall.

He sighed as he tried to make himself comfortable; his rounded belly, which was now more prominent, was giving him back aches. He had a hard time staying on his feet, _and yet_ he was tired of sitting down all the time. He couldn't wait for it to be over. He chuckled: he did wanted the pregnancy over because of all its negative sides, but he wasn't ready to face the responsibilities that came with it.

He took a moment, since he was alone, to 'look' at his swollen stomach. He usually didn't like to pay much attention to it, since it was a touchy subject. But after seeing Jeannie and talking with her, he was in a better state of mind to realize his situation. Putting his book aside, he had both hands free. The man sighed and put both hands awkwardly on his stomach. He focused his sight on it, analyzing it. He couldn't believe that almost seven months had gone by.

He felt a kick underneath his palm. It made him smile.

He wanted more than anything to keep the baby… but he knew that living on Atlantis is a major obstacle to all this. And leaving the Ancient city was out of the question. He groaned in annoyance; how did Teyla do it?

A knock was heard at the small cabin's door.

"Come in" he simply said. He retracted his hands, not knowing who it was; he wouldn't want a member of the Daedalus' crew to see him like that.

It was Carson; he had decided to go back to Atlantis with them, since he wasn't needed anymore on Earth. "So, how are you and the wee lad feeling today?" He sat at the colonel's feet, on the bottom of the bunk bed.

John smiled: "Good. Ronon was right: talking with Jeannie was helpful. Now I feel ready to go back to Atlantis."

The doctor patted the colonel's foot merrily: "I'm glad to hear this, John. I know how hard it was for you before you left the Ancient city, but now it can only get better."

"Get better?" the other inquired, confused. "How can it get _better_? It'll pretty much be the same thing as before."

Carson frowned: "Didn't Ronon tell you?"

John shook his head in a negative manner.

"Well, Dr Keller left Atlantis." The doctor crossed his arms: "I saw her a few days before we left."

The shock was evident on the colonel's face. "Oh, so that's what you meant."

A smile appeared on Carson's face as he got up to leave: "Gotta go, I had some things to finish before we arrive to Atlantis. I'll leave you to your book."

Sheppard nodded and the man left the small room. He then released a breath he had been holding. He replayed in his mind what Beckett had said about Keller. His heart was thudding in his chest; he wouldn't have to suffer her bullying anymore. He wondered how McKay took it. The man probably threw a fit or something.

He sighed, feeling relieved and anxious to get back to Atlantis; even if Rodney didn't return John's feelings, at least there would be no more of Jennifer's oppression.

...o.o.o...

The day before his assignment, the young man had packed his things and was ready, but he had something left to do. Since it was his first time on a two-day mission, Alexander wanted to say good-bye to his father, in case... He shook his head. Simply _in case_. There was no need for fear of something going wrong.

He braced himself before entering the lab where Rodney was working.

"Hey dad. Got a minute?"

McKay was still working on calculations he had started earlier. "Told you to call me _Rodney_" he grunted. He was sitting on a stool in front of a white board full of writings, his back facing the young man.

Alexander sighed, thinking that coming to see his dad had been a bad idea. "Look, I came here to say that tomorrow morning I'm leaving for a two-day mission." He stopped there, thinking Rodney have the decency to turn around to talk to him.

However, without looking away from his white board, the older man answered: "And?"

The question confused slightly the young medic, but he ignored it: "Well… I wanted to say goodbye."

When McKay finally turned around, that's when Alexander saw the fatigue in his figure, the dark circles under his eyes: "Well, goodbye" he barked, and returned to his board.

This took Alexander by surprise, so he left; Jennifer's departure had turned his father into a mess. He would have to think of something when he'd get back from his mission. Maybe trying to coax him to go see the psychologist would be difficult, but beneficial.

He left nonetheless, but not without sadness pulling at his heart.

As the door whooshed close, Rodney turned around to look at where the young man had been, just a few seconds ago. He sighed, and tried to get back to his work, trying to forget about what had just happened.

...o.o.o...

"We are approaching Atlantis, if everything goes well, we should be there in a day and a half."

"That's good news" John said, trying to sound positive.

He was sitting in the Daedalus lunch room, drinking tea with colonel Caldwell. The latter was taking a break to eat and chat with John.

"So, once you're back, are you going to let colonel Carter continue until you've…"

Sheppard could detect the uneasiness in Caldwell's voice. So he completed the sentence for him: "given birth? Yeah, if the military let me. I'm tired all the time and being the head of security, a slip of awareness could cost someone's life. So I'd rather stay and help than be the one who takes the decisions."

The older man nodded. "And, if it's not too personal, can I ask you… how you… how will the baby…?"

A chuckle quickly escaped from John as he knew what Caldwell meant. It was probably the first question everyone had in mind when meeting him. "How will the baby come out? Thankfully, _not_ out of my ass" he said with another chuckle. "No, it'll be surgically removed. The natives of the planet where we found the machine do it rather primitively with a rustic knife, or a sword if needed. Dr Beckett told me that it would be a painless job with all the equipment available on Atlantis."

The older colonel seemed relieved at what Sheppard had said. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you're in good hands" he said genuinely.

...o.o.o...

Alexander finished adjusting his backpack's straps as the stargate was dialed.

The only present to bid him goodbye was Teyla. It would have surprised him his father to be present.

The faint blue light of the gate was now illuminating the room. The team walked through it and it closed.

On the other side, they were greeted by the Geniis. It was mid-day and the weather was nice.

"Welcome major Lorne, doctors" a man in his mid-thirties said. He was dressed in a beige lab coat and had curly blond hair. "My name is Pasar Lerrya. Nice to finally meet you" he said, with a large smile. "Now if you would please follow me, I'll show you where we'll be working. It's a short walk from here."

Dr Biro and Dr White followed the medical scientist and Alexander walked behind, with Lorne and his marine.

After ten minutes of walking, they entered a small house with an underground entrance to the real city of the Geniis.

Long corridors with very little windows were what Alexander saw for the most part on their way to the laboratories.

When they arrived to destination, Lorne and his team was shown their quarters and the doctors were left in the lab with Alexander. The genii scientists showed the doctors from Earth their installations.

Everyone was ready to start working, and Pasar Lerrya explained the purpose of their presence. "We may have found something that could slow down the Wraith and we need your help in developing it."

Dr Biro gasped, and commented excitedly: "Oh! I can't wait to see this!"

It had indeed piqued Alexander's curiosity; something that would at least slow the Wraiths' progression could help them out a lot. Thankfully, there hadn't been any attack on Atlantis, but they certainly couldn't prevent one. This could maybe help put the Wraith off for a while.

"This will directly affect the Iratus part of the Wraith's anatomy."

While the doctors and the Genii scientists were talking, Alexander took the time to look around. The room was well lit and it was a roughly the same size as some labs on Atlantis. At the other end of the room, he noticed a young female nurse who smiled shyly at him. He returned the gesture with a smile of his own.

He was jerked away from his thoughts when Dr White talked to him: "Alexander, could you please bring me my bag?"

"Huh, yes, gimme a second, I'll get it…"

But his eyes were glued on the beautiful nurse all that time. He made a mental note of trying to talk to her during the day.

...o.o.o...

After working for a few hours, they took a break to eat; it seemed the Genii's discovery would need a lot of work.

The team was sitting around a rectangle table eating their evening meal before they would retire to their appointed rooms.

Alexander was sitting besides the young female nurse he had seen in the lab, earlier. She had a cascade of red hair and deep brown eyes; a pretty sight for any young man. She reminded him of Sarah, that girl he had met a while back on Atlantis. "So, you are accompanying the team from Atlantis, I see?" she said smiling. "My name is Aeda."

He returned her smile with one of his own dashing one: "Nice to meet you, Aeda. Such a lovely name. It complements well your beauty."

She blushed lightly. "Oh! Hum, thank you" she said with a giggle. "You're pretty nice looking yourself."

"So, what made you decided to work as a nurse?" Alexander threw in as a random question.

"Ah, many reasons, mainly because my mother is one, and my dad's a physicist . But also because I love helping people." She took a sip from her glass of water. "And you, why are you here? You don't look like a nurse or a doctor, but yet you seem to know a lot about physiology."

"I am training to become a medic, to help out on the field. My dad is a scientist and my mom's in the military. My dad is kinda grouchy, but super smart. And mom, he's pretty cool-" Alexander caught himself, but it was too late.

"He?" Aeda giggled. "Wouldn't that be weird if two men could have kids?" she threw in, humorously.

The young man made a slightly annoyed face: "Is there something wrong with that? Because, you see, my parents _are_ both males." He wasn't really tolerant of closed-minded people.

She slightly gasped in shock, when she saw that he was serious about it. "But… that's impossible, right?"

Alexander knew that he shouldn't be revealing that information to anyone outside Atlantis, but he was too miffed to keep it to himself. "Look, you have to keep this a secret… it was a machine that the Ancients created long ago. My parents activated it and that's how I was born, nine months later. I do have two fathers." He then frowned: "Now if you don't mind, I'm not hungry anymore." He threw his napkin on the table and got up.

She sat there, mouth agape. "Wait! I'm sorry!" she said as she grabbed his forearm. "Please, stay. I didn't mean to upset you. I was simply surprised, you see. In fact, I think this machine could be very useful in rebuilding populations throughout the world. I'm really sorry it didn't sound the right way."

"Yes, well, whatever." He turned around and informed Adea, before leaving: "I'm still going to bed, it's been a long day. Have a nice evening."

An emotion ran across her face when Alexander left the table. She bit her lip and quickly got up as well, walking fast. She couldn't keep what he had just mentioned to herself; she knew it would interest her gang leader, somehow.

...o.o.o...

"Oh no you aren't!"

"What?" the Satedan said nonchalantly, his head supported by his fist.

Sheppard passed a hand through his hair in frustration. "Dammit. How can you beat me at chess? I never lose!" he let out, slightly irritated.

Ronon simply chuckled. John had been distracted and grumpy since they got up. "You're anxious to get back to Atlantis. That's why you're not focused."

The dark-haired man made a face, but agreed nonetheless: "I guess you're right. Only less than a day and we're there." He brought a shy hand to his rounded abdomen.

"How is Junior doing?" Ronon moved his knight on the board, eyes glued on the small chess piece.

Sheppard made a face: "Fine. But being cooped up in this ship for all this time is slowly driving me insane. And she's getting agitated as well. Like me, she doesn't seem to like having nothing to do." He sighed: "Hopefully the rest of the trip will go by faster than it is."

Ronon wouldn't admit this out loud, but he was happy to see his superior accepting his return to Atlantis well. Maybe things would turn out okay, in the end.

...o.o.o...

The next morning, the medical team was back at work in the Genii labs.

Alexander saw that Adea was also there. He smiled at her politely, as a greeting and she returned the gesture. He noticed, however, how she seemed nervous and adverted his gaze after that. He took note of this, but started working nonetheless.

It was after an hour, when Aeda walked up to him, asking about the Ancient procreation machine, that he found it suspicious. She was nervous, her voice wavering. "Why are you asking? I'd rather not talk about it." He knew he shouldn't have told her, the night before.

She hesitated: "Well, why would it matter if you told me? It's not fair…" she trailed on.

He frowned. "Look, it's not fair either to the population using it right now; they need it to ensure the survival of their race. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to talk about it furthermore."

"Very well" Aeda said, before turning around and leaving the young man. "But I always get what I want" she whispered angrily to herself. She then walked out of the room. Outside was a Genii soldier. When he saw her face, he knew that she hadn't been able to extract the information.

"You don't seem to understand, darling. We _want_ that information. If what that guy, Alexander, said _is_ true… Can you possibly imagine how we could use this machine for our advantage against our enemies?" He sighed: "We'll have to try another more… convincing way."

Aeda looked anxiously at the man in front of her: "What do you have in mind?"

The soldier smirked. "Don't you worry, your part is done, now it's my turn."

A veil of fear appeared over the young woman's eyes: "But…! You're not going to hurt anyone… right?"

The soldier looked a her, with a smirk he said: "Like I said, your part is done." He took his gun from its holster: "Let the show begin."

"Wait!" Aeda yelled, but it fell on deaf ears.

Coming to the lab's door, the young man rose his gun at Alexander's head: "Everyone on their knees!"

Alexander's heart stopped at that short sentence. "Dammit" he whispered, panicked.

* * *

So here is the newest chapter. Laziness had a strong hold on me :P

The next part will follow soon, as I had to cut this chapter at around 3000 words because it was nearing 5000 and I don't like posting monster chapters... so yeah. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review! It really makes my day when you do :)


	14. How dare you!

**How dare you!**

It was half a day before Lorne's team was to come back to Atlantis.

In his office, Mr Woolsey was reading some reports when the Stargate activated itself.

He got up, walking closer to the command room: "Whose code is it?" he asked Chuck.

"No one's, sir. But there is a audio-video message being transmitted."

"Authorize it, but keep the gate's shield up."

The technician nodded.

As soon as the communication was established on Atlantis' side, a voice boomed in: "_I know you can hear me. So listen closely, I want something from Dr McKay and he should give it me. And you should respond, because I have some of his little friends here._"

"Open the channel, I wish to speak to him" Woolsey said.

"_Oh hello there. I knew you couldn't resist my charm_" the man on the other side of the screen said, chuckling.

"What do you want and who are you?" Atlantis' leader calmly asked.

"_My name is of no importance. But if you want to call me something, I'm Lucky. And for the 'what I want' part, I just told you, I want something from Dr McKay. Because otherwise some people are gonna get hurt."_

A deep breath, then Woolsey ordered: "Wait until I call for him, if you wish to talk to him so much." He signaled Chuck to mute the conversation with Lucky and to connect with Rodney's personal radio: "Doctor McKay, you should come to the control room, immediately."

"_Huh… ok. Gimme a few minutes and I'll be there, McKay out_" a tired and unsure voice answered.

Atlantis' leader looked at the screen intently. "He's coming. Hopefully this isn't going to be disastrous" he mentioned to Chuck.

It took five minutes for Rodney to arrive, and he was in a bad mood. He didn't know what was waiting for him. When Woolsey showed him the screen with a dark expression, and he saw the man on it, he snapped: "What the hell is going on?!"

Woolsey tried the best he could to formulate a quick sentence that would give the scientist the gist of the situation: "A man, Lucky, took some people hostage -thought we haven't seen them yet- and says you have something he wants."

McKay made a face that yelled 'not impressed'. "Okay, whatever, put me on."

And so, Chuck disabled the muting.

"Who are you and what do you want from me? And don't repeat that same bullshit you told Woolsey" Rodney went straight to the point. He wasn't in the mood to fool around.

On the screen, Lucky laughed. "Well if you're interested in seeing your little friends here again," the leader of the rogue Geniis threatened, "you might want to listen to our demands."

The camera turned slowly, showing the room; it was a lab in the Genii underground facilities. It stopped when the hostages were in range.

"Huh, dad? Help?" Alexander was sitting on his heels, on the ground with his hands behind his head, with the two other scientists beside him in the same position. He was terrified, even though he tried to act brave for the others. Static in the screen distorted the image slightly. Beside them were Lorne and his marine, both unconscious on the ground; they, however, had been tied to prevent any retaliation.

"Alexander!" Rodney panicked. How did this happen?! Something clicked inside his mind, a feeling of anger, of protectiveness, invaded him.

"Dr McKay, please calm down" Woolsey whispered. He frowned, and returned his focus on the screen: "Are you trying to tell us that this mission was only a cover to this? Radim will hear about it!"

The camera returned to its former focus. The leader sneered: "_No it wasn't planned, this is a… spur of the moment_. _And we don't care about Ladon Radim. We simply want to have another chance at procreating. A lot of us are sterile after this problem with the nuclear testing. This needs to be rectified._" He then walked out of screen towards Alexander.

A hitting sound was heard.

"_Argh!_"

Rodney could only stare at the screen while his heart skipped a beat. His breath became shallow and his pulse accelerated. It was like someone had sparked a fire in his mind: "You will regret this…! If… If you touch even a hair of him again…!"

Woolsey put a hand on McKay's shoulder forcefully: "Doctor, calm down!" He then added, whispering near his ear: "We'll do everything in our power to save them all. But we can't have you losing your mind right now!"

Rodney closed his tired eyes for a second and nodded. He'd keep his cool and help Alexander… and the rest of the Atlantis team stuck there. He opened his eyes: "If only Sheppard was here. He'd keep me on track. He always did." He sighed, missing the other man. A knot formed in his throat, and he nodded again: "Okay, let's do this. What… what do you want?"

"_What we want is really simple: we heard that on a planet out there in space, there is a special machine…_"

Rodney stared right through the screen. He knew what Lucky was talking about. He had to think quickly.

"_Dad! Don't give him what he wants, think about the Khaji-_"

_Twack!_

"_Oww!_" A loud cough then followed.

It took all of the scientist's self-control to not explode with anger. He felt like a volcano nearing its eruption.

"_Shut up, kid!_" Lucky yelled. "_I didn't give you the permission to speak_." His attention returned to the camera in front of him: "_I think you are well aware of what I want: I want the gate address to that planet. Or else you little friends here will get a taste of this gun_" he said, showing his handgun.

Woolsey spoke up: "We can't give you that, but maybe an arrangement could be made-"

"_No! That's all I want, nothing else will do_."

McKay looked at the screen and then at Woolsey, fire in his eyes: "Stop! I…"

The older man shook his head, but said nothing.

But the scientist didn't care: "I'll meet you, before saying or doing anything… I want to be assured that none of your prisoners have been hurt. And don't you dare touch my _son_ again" he said menacingly. He then turned to Chuck, with a dark expression on his face: "Cut the communications. I'm going in." He then looked at Woolsey: "And _you_ can't make me change my mind about this."

The Atlantis leader frowned disapprovingly: "You can't put your life on the line. Why don't we give them the gate address?"

Rodney shook his head: "No, Alexander wouldn't want that." So much like Sheppard: protect the innocents at all costs. "The Khajiits would be basically defenseless against the Genii's technology."

"But, is it worth our people's lives?" Woolsey tried to reason the scientist.

"I'll think of something, along the way."

Rodney's decision was final, and no one could make him change that.

As the scientist left the command room, Woolsey signaled Chuck to make communication through speakers around the city: "Colonel Carter is needed in the command room immediately. I repeat: Colonel Carter, command room."

...o.o.o...

As soon as the communication stopped, Lucky looked at his prisoners on the floor. The two doctors seemed terrified, and were huddled together, sitting on the floor. Major Lorne and his subordinate were also lying on the floor, but their hands and feet were tied, out of precaution. All of the other Genii scientists were also huddled in a corner of the lab to prevent them from escaping. He then signaled one of his soldiers to evacuate the Genii scientists from the room.

The leader then stooped at Alexander's eye level: "Don't worry kiddo, daddy's coming to save you." He sneered.

Alexander sent him a glare, but said nothing. He knew that he had to buy some time; his father said he'd come to negotiate. At that thought, the young man recalled his father mentioning to Lucky to 'not to touch his _son_ again'. It brought some warmth to Alexander's heart to know that Rodney had considered him like his son, unlike for the past months. Hopefully, Rodney wouldn't do anything stupid like coming alone by himself to meet with the Geniis. He scoffed lightly, knowing that it was exactly what his dad was going to do.

However, Lucky picked on that scoff: "Oh, you think this is funny?" He raised a hand to hit Alexander.

The young man's breath hitched slightly. "No, sir."

"Lucky, leave him alone" Aeda said pleadingly. "You're going to have your answer soon. You'll have what you want, but not if you hurt him again."

The soldier lowered his hand, but spit on the young man.

Alexander saw fit not to react to anger the older man further.

"Keep an eye on them, and don't let them move too much" Lucky motioned to one of his subordinates to move closer, towards the prisoners.

"Sir!"

As the leader left, Alexander took the opportunity to look at Aeda, who sent him a soft look. She then turned around to follow Lucky.

He sighed, hoping things wouldn't get uglier.

Lorne, beside him, groaned lightly.

"Welcome back, major" Alexander said, sadly. "Please refrain from moving too much, you've been tied up and they have guns pointed at us. Just saying as a quick 'fyi'. You know, we can't be too careful."

Feeling that his hands and feet were indeed tied together, Lorne could only stay there lying on his side, on the floor: "Are you guys hurt?" he asked, out of habit.

Alexander shook his head, but Lorne could see blood coming from a bruise on his cheek. And the spit on his shirt. "What the hell? They'll pay for this."

"Please, major Lorne, stay put, otherwise you'll anger them" Dr Biro said quietly. Fear was evident on her face.

The man nodded, but didn't like it one bit.

...o.o.o...

Rodney couldn't believe he hadn't seen this coming. It seemed that the boy had definitely inherited of John's lack of luck, after all.

As he stood in front of the gate, which was to be dialed in a few seconds, he looked at Samantha Carter who was looking at him with concerned eyes.

"I'll be fine, Sam" he said, a bit coldly. "And no, you can't come with me. I told that bastard I'd be alone. I can't come back on my word."

"But… Rodney, have you given any thoughts about-"

"No, I don't have a plan. I'll improvise." He sighed. "Look, I'm going as soon as possible. I… don't want anything to happen to Alexander. Sheppard'd kill me."

Carter nodded. "I understand." She saw that she couldn't do anything to make him change his mind either. "But Rodney… Please be careful," she said, as she gave him a quick hug and let him go as the blue light from the Ancient gate illuminated the room.

The scientist nodded dutifully: "I will, Sam."

As soon as he was on the other side of the gate, two Genii soldiers were there to greet him. They grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the small house Lorne's team had gone to. "You'd better have held your promise and kept my friends be safe. Otherwise you're surely not getting anything out of me."

"You should thank Aeda, she's the one who stopped Lucky from doing anything" the soldier holding McKay's arm said with a sneer.

"Well thank you for telling me _that_. I'll make sure to remember it when we get there."

...o.o.o...

They had been in that laboratory since morning and it was now afternoon; the doctors were getting restless and both major and marine were awake. Alexander could only hope his father would come soon. He wouldn't want anyone to be hurt in the process.

But when he heard some ruffling outside the lab door and some yelling, he knew McKay had arrived. "Okay you can let me go, now! I won't escape, I wanna see the prisoners."

"Sure, sure. Keep walking" the soldier accompanying him said.

When the door opened, Alexander's heart skipped a beat. His eyes connected with McKay's for a short while, but it was enough to convey emotions; relief was written over the older man's face.

"Alexander, are you alright?"

The young man nodded, but stayed silent, in case Lucky would hit him again.

"So, what now?" McKay said cockily to the Genii soldier. "And no, I'm not giving you the gate address to the planet." He took the time to quickly survey the room; besides the hostages, there were the two soldiers that had accompanied him, a young female nurse, and not the least, the Genii soldier he had talked to earlier. The team from Atlantis was aligned along on the of the room's walls; the leader was in front of them, and Rodney was facing him. The other two guards were at the other end of the room.

Lucky turned around, looked at the scientist and rose an eyebrow. "What?! You've made all this way, simply to refuse to cooperate?" He scoffed: "Fine, then I'll have all the fun in the world hurting your little friends. And your son." A dangerous grin appeared on the soldier's face.

McKay's face remained impassive. "No, you won't." But inside, he was boiling with rage, trying to come up with a way to turn this around, in his favour. He glanced at Alexander, trying to get the young medic to look at him, but his eyes were to the ground in shame.

"Oh, I see, you wish to play rough? Very well" the soldier said, as he approached Alexander dangerously. "We'll see how you'll cooperate after _this_" and he slapped the young man with the back of his hand. "Just a little preview, you see?"

McKay had difficulties watching this, but there was nothing much he could do, but watch. A ridiculous idea flashed through his mind, but he had to try it. "Why don't you face someone your own size. I didn't know Genii soldiers stooped so low as to target kids." That's it, his sharp tongue usually got him in trouble, but he didn't care at that moment. As long as the soldier focused on him and not on the prisoners, maybe he could think of something else.

"Oh, really? Because besides the major here, I don't see anyone else _my_ size. And _he's_ tied down."

Lorne groaned in impatience, on the floor, hating to be so useless.

A wind of courage then swept through Rodney's body: "I want you to release them and take me prisoner instead, then." He hoped that this would destabilize the leader, somehow.

And it did. "And why do you think you are more useful then them, as a prisoner?"

Alexander looked up in panic. He shook his head frantically. 'Don't do this!' he mouthed to his father.

Lucky smiled widely, oblivious to what was happening behind him: "I have five prisoners, and you're only one person. That's not a fair exchange…"

Rodney sighed: "Fine. I'll help you build whatever you want. My _brain_ is more useful to you than any of them combined." He had tried to sound convincing, but wasn't confident that he had been. He could only hope.

"Anything, you say? Even that fertility machine on that planet?" Lucky asked, curious.

McKay nodded. Lying usually wasn't his forte, but now he was desperate to save Alexander and the others.

That had piqued the leader's interest. "Interesting."

Alexander couldn't believe his ears; his father couldn't do this. He couldn't abandon Atlantis, simply to save them. The thought of this troubled him. His heart beating fast, he looked up at the scene in front of him: about three feet separated him from Lucky. His father was also a few feet from the leader, but on the opposite side. There _had_ to be something he could do. Lucky only had a handgun. Maybe this would be his way out of this situation.

While his father and Lucky were negotiating, the young man eyed the two other soldiers at the other side of the room. One was talking with Aeda, their backs turned to the rest of them. The second was sitting nonchalantly on a stool, not focusing on them. This was his chance. He signaled Dr Biro to grab the leader's gun, before he got up silently and threw himself at Lucky.

"Urgh! What the-!"

Alexander pinned the leader's upper arms under his own like a vice-grip, which had surprised the said man, who was trying to shake him off.

Dr Biro took the cue and also threw herself at the man's gun to pry it out of his hand.

The commotion roused the two guards who noticed the struggle between Alexander and their leader.

Aeda, who was beside one of them, took the opportunity to knock her companion out by using a heavy tool that was lying on a table beside her.

Lucky was blinded by rage, seeing he had been trapped; he collected all the strength he had and shot in McKay's direction thrice: "I'm not going down without damage!" he threw in maniacally, before raising his gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

At that moment, it was like everything played in slow motion.

Blood splattered in the young man's face, behind Lucky.

The body went limp and slipped to the ground, at the same time as McKay collapsed, unconscious.

Alexander felt numb for a minute, as he could feel the blood and brain pieces trickling down his face; he saw his father's body on the ground, but he couldn't move a limb. He _could_ see what was happening, but it felt unreal, like in a movie.

Dr Biro quickly took the gun in Lucky's motionless hands and went to Rodney to investigate the damage.

Aeda took the gun of the guard whom she had knocked out in her hands, and aimed at the other one left: "Don't you dare move!" she yelled. She wanted nothing more than to leave that place, but she knew she had to repay Alexander for all the damage she had done.

Dr White got up, after the initial shock, seeing that Alexander wouldn't come to his senses and shook him hard. "Come on! Wake up, Alexander! We need to get the hell out of here!" She then left his side to go untie Lorne and the marine, who were still on the ground.

It was enough for him to come back to reality. His eyes widened and he panicked: he was seeing his father's death, all over again, in his own dimension. He threw himself at Rodney's side, quickly scanning for wounds; two bullets had hit him. There were one hole on his side, near the lung and another one underneath it, near the hip. From the sound of his breathing, it seemed that the lung hadn't been punctured, but they didn't know if any major organs had been touched.

"Doctor… is he… ?" he asked, his voice trembling. He felt tears in his eyes coming; it was like that fateful day, a year before. His dad had died, trying to protect him and his mom, and he had been shot. He shook his head. "No, no… it can't be happening again!" he mumbled to himself.

Now up, Lorne ordered the marine to neutralize the guard left, as well as Aeda; she may had helped them right then, but her betrayal was still fresh. He walked to Dr Biro: "What do you need?" He was horrified at the scene; Alexander was still somewhat in shock and the scientist was not out of danger. He had to act accordingly.

"Bring me my medical bag, I have some basic bandages that will do for the moment" she said, as she tried to apply pressure to both injuries.

The major nodded. He got up quickly and found the needed bag. Bringing back the bandages, he kneeled beside the doctor. "We have to get out of here, fast. I don't want to know if there's more of them."

Dr Biro nodded, and said: "As soon as I've secured something to slow down the bleeding, we can leave. I'll try to hurry up."

Lorne got up and started to their things to leave as soon as possible.

...o.o.o...

When they came through the gate in emergency, a medical team was already waiting. The medical staff was already preparing for the surgery.

Lorne and the marine each held one of Rodney's arms around their shoulders to support his unconscious body. They carefully dropped him on the gurney that was waiting for him.

Dr Biro and White followed the gurney to the surgery room.

Lorne and the marine were looked at by some nurses.

Alexander stood there, powerless.

Woolsey, Teyla and colonel Carter were there to greet the team.

Sam was taken aback by Alexander's striking resemblance to Sheppard; yet there was a lot of Rodney as well. She had never seen him, and if the situation would have been less dreadful, she might have smiled at the strangeness of it.

The poor boy was white as a sheet, and Teyla was fast on her feet. "Alexander, what's wrong?"

With haunted eyes, he answered: "Dad… dad is dead because of me."

For a second, the Athosian woman stood there, questioning what she had seen: "Rodney's not dead. He's in good hands now, the doctors will save him."

But Alexander kept on rambling: "No, you don't understand, that's how it happened."

Woolsey frowned: "What is he talking about?"

Teyla shrugged. "What happened?"

"Dad… last year, when he died… it was just like this: a hostage situation, dad trying to act like a hero, him getting shot… him dying on mom and I, in front of our eyes…"

The woman was shocked at what Alexander had said. "Shhhh, don't worry about that. Rodney won't die. Not today" she said, as she pulled him into her arms. The young man started sobbing. She looked around and people were coming around, to see what was happening. She shooed them away and motioned Alexander to follow her to the infirmary. "Come, let's take a look at your bruises."

The young man sniffed loudly, following the Athosian woman.

...o.o.o...

Sitting in his cabin inside the Daedalus, John was reading a book, on his bed.

"_Colonel Sheppard, we just received information from Atlantis_." It was colonel Caldwell, through the speakers.

"What's wrong?" Sheppard demanded.

"_We were told by Mr Woolsey to transfer you a message. You should come to the command room. Something happened on a mission with Alexander, and Dr. McKay was hurt in the process_."

John's heart skipped a beat. He was frozen on the spot, book in hands. No sound escaped his mouth.

"_Colonel? Are you okay?_"

It took a few seconds for Sheppard to answer: "Huh, yeah I'm coming."

A few minutes later, as John came in the command room, colonel Caldwell greeted him. "I was told that Alexander is fine, except from some bruises. Dr McKay went through surgery for some injuries made by gun bullets, a few hours ago. If you wish, we could drop you to the nearest stargate, with Ronon and Dr Beckett of course, and you could travel to Atlantis faster." He had offered this, knowing that the scientist held a special place in Sheppard's heart.

Sheppard hesitated, but not for long. "Okay, just give me some time to get my stuff and we'll be ready in thirty minutes." He tried to hide the panic that had invaded him the moment the colonel had said that something had gone wrong during a mission.

Caldwell nodded.

...o.o.o...

"Well, Dr McKay, you were lucky, after all. The bullets didn't go too deep, it's nothing to worry about. A good rest and some time off will be enough" Dr Biro said, as she finished taking a look at the wounds. It had been six hours since the team had came in from the mission. She was checking on the injuries, after her colleague had done the surgery.

A nurse then started to put on some fresh new bandages on the scientist's wounds.

Just as she finished with his dressings, a voice boomed in as a door opened: "HOW DARE YOU!? Going alone like this! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Both Dr Biro and Rodney looked up to see a very pregnant, fuming _and_ out-of-breath colonel at the infirmary's door.

"What?" the doctor exclaimed, confused.

Rodney's eyes widened but he said nothing; he knew that Sheppard was talking to him. He lowered his gaze at his lap, ashamed of himself.

Walking closer, Sheppard frowned even more: "Alexander told me what happened. He's a mess, he thought you had died. What the hell, McKay!?"

At a now closer distance, Rodney could see that, even though his tone of voice was hard, there were unshed tears in his friend's eyes. He did not dare to talk; he knew he deserved the lecture.

Dr Biro decided to leave the two men alone, as she knew that they both needed that private discussion. She signaled the nurse to follow her, and left to her office.

Sighing deeply, McKay waited for Sheppard to talk.

John dried his tears roughly with his sleeve. "Why the hell did you do this?!" he asked angrily. It wasn't like McKay _not _to talk.

But the other man stayed silent.

"Rodney! Dammit."

The scientist took a deep breath and said: "Jennifer left me. A few weeks ago. Alexander was in danger. The Geniis… I exchanged myself for his freedom; they had taken the team hostage. I didn't have much choice."

It took a few minutes for the information to all settle in, but then John exclaimed: "And what made you think that by sacrificing yourself, everything would get better?" He spontaneously grabbed the front of the other man's scrub shirt.

Rodney gently took Sheppard's hands and held them in his own.

A moment of awkwardness installed itself and made the dark-haired man squint at his friend, trying to understand what deserved this hand holding: "Rodney?"

Taking a deep breath, McKay said: "Look, John. I'll do whatever it takes to turn this around. I've made mistakes and I want to repair whatever I did wrong. I'm… sorry." Looking intently in the other's eyes: "I want to make this work. Will you give me a chance?"

Sheppard's heart skipped a beat; it was what he had wanted all along. But why did it feel so wrong? Sighing deeply, he answered: "Don't you think it's a bit early after… Keller?" He paused, not believing what he was going to say next: "Of course I'll give you a chance, but first, I want you to wait until you've recovered from your physical wounds. And I want you to get help because of what you went through since… well since whenever you want. You have to talk and let it all out. Then…" he started, and smiled genuinely, "then yes, we'll make this work. Because I also have my share of wrongness in this story. I've put you through something horrible and I didn't give you a choice about it. I'm… I'm sorry for all of it." Tears were starting to gather in his eyes, again; he pulled his hands from McKay's grasp to dry his tears. He bit his lower lip lightly and chuckled: "I guess it's Alexander who's gonna be happy about all this."

Rodney's signature crooked smile appeared on his face: "Yeah, I guess so." He rolled his eyes. "Guess I can call you 'mommy', then?" He settled back his head against the pillow, the smile still on his face.

Sheppard snorted and then a comfortable silence installed itself.

It was McKay, who of course, broke the quietude first: "Can you send him in? I have some major apologizing to do."

Sheppard knew who Rodney was talking about, without even mentioning the name. "Don't you want to get out of the infirmary, first?"

The Canadian shook his head. "No. I want to do this now. I… this, what happened with the Genii… it made me realize a lot of things, in a short amount of time. Things that have been put aside for far too long."

Sheppard shrugged. "Okay, then. I'll tell him. Gimme a sec here" he said as he got up slowly from the chair, taking some time to regain his balance because of the weight from the baby.

As the military man left the infirmary, and seeing that there was no one else besides him, Rodney shouted quickly: "You're waddling like a duck, Sheppard!"

To which John showed him his middle finger, without looking back.

...o.o.o...

From the infirmary door, Sheppard looked inside the room. He couldn't hear what McKay was saying, but when he saw both men starting to cry and awkwardly hug, he knew that Rodney had done the right thing.

A tear of happiness made its way down his cheek as he left. Damn hormones.

* * *

Eeek! Sorry for that monster chapter! It took a while to write, because the more I wrote, the more I wanted to add. Urgh. This story is going to be wayyy longer than intended...

So! Here we had some action in this chapter. I hope I didn't bore anyone out of their mind!

Please review! :( I wanna know if you liked it

**Update Feb. 4th:** I just realized that I had some details mixed up (i.e Carson was on the Daedalus, so he couldn't be there on Atlantis at the same time for Rodney's surgery), so I corrected it. Nothing major though.


	15. Do we have to talk about it?

**A/N: I have a question for you guys, so if you could check at the end of the chapter and review your answer, that'd be great :)  
**

* * *

**Do we have to talk about it?**

The day after the whole ordeal with Lucky and the rogue Geniis, the team members had the day off.

With what had happened with Alexander and his father's death a year back, John wanted him to have a chat with the psychologist, Dr. Lucy Braun.

So here the young man was, sitting in her office, in a nice comfy armchair, facing her. He passed a hand though his thick black hair with nervousness. They were sitting close and he felt her gaze on him.

"So, Alexander" Lucy started, "we see each other again. It's been a while since your last visit." She looked through his file. "Two months, actually." She looked up with a soft smile: "How have you been?" She inspected the young man: he had bruises on his face and seemed to favor supporting his weight with his left side. She had been informed about the previous day's situation with the Geniis.

Scratching his neck in a nonchalant manner, he answered: "Good, I guess. With all that's happened since my… miscarriage, I do think that I've done well. I still think about it sometimes, but now I realize how stupid it was to try to hide it; but I'm also a little relieved. I so wouldn't see myself in my mom… errr sorry, colonel Sheppard's place, almost eight month pregnant now" he said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, if you feel the need to call colonel Sheppard 'mom' because it feels natural for you, please do. I want you to be comfortable" she interjected, and put her hand on his knee to reassure him.

He nodded and tried to ignore her flirting. "So mom wanted me to come here today, because he thought that I needed to talk about dad… well… my _real_ dad in my own dimension."

"What happened to your father, and please tell me about it."

"He…" the young man took in a deep breath, "he died last year. And I didn't want to talk about it, even though people here have asked. I guess I wasn't… ready, to say it out loud." Even though he didn't really like Dr Braun's attitude, which was slightly unprofessional, he did admit that she made him comfortable enough to talk freely. Unlike his parents, talking about emotions _was_ his forte. "But I guess that colonel Sheppard wanted to make sure that everything was normal with me. I guess I did panic yesterday when I saw that soldier shoot dad… I've been told that I didn't move for a few minutes… until Dr White shook me. I had a hard time grasping the gravity of the situation; for me, everything played in slow motion. It was almost identical to last year." He sighed and took a pause to gather his thoughts.

Lucy didn't push him, knowing he would say it eventually.

As if right on cue, the young man continued: "It started with a hostage situation; mom and I were stuck on a planet, after trying to negotiate with a new population. And then dad tried to come to our rescue and exchange himself for us… then there was a struggle as I tried to stop our captor, and…" he stopped, closing his eyes, as a shiver ran along his spine. "Then the person shot dad and… and…" The knot in his throat impeded his speech slightly. "… He died on the spot. A bullet had reached his heart. After that event, mom hasn't been the same." He inhaled deeply, trying to control his tears: "So yeah, when I saw dad fall on the floor yesterday… I thought he was done for. But thankfully, the bullets didn't hit any major organs." He let one tear fall, not being able to stay emotionless.

"Even though it was a rough start here, I think that it has done me a lot of good. Like the Teyla in my dimension told me it would. " He then smiled: "I had this short talk yesterday with Dr. McKay, when he woke up. And everything's okay now. It's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I… am so happy now. I know that dad was sincere and that's what relieves me the most."

...o.o.o...

While Alexander was at the psychologist's office, Sheppard was at the mess hall, trying to find something to satisfy his craving.

_Apple sauce_. The only thing John craved; it had started a few weeks ago. The problem wasn't that it was weird like pickles and ice cream cravings, no. It was because there wasn't any on Atlantis.

He did find something was a substitute which was made with maloks, a fruit native of the Pegasus galaxy that had the same texture, but not the same taste. He was craving that sweet, yet slightly tart taste. He settled for the substitute, but knew that the craving would linger for a while.

He sat down at a table, with his snack. People were staring at him; having been away for almost two months, he appeared even more pregnant than before he left. Most would smile at him, especially the women. Some even came to him, asking if they could touch his belly, but Sheppard politely refused, as he wasn't really comfortable with other people doing it.

Lost in his thoughts while eating his sauce, he didn't hear Teyla approaching.

"We didn't get much time to chat, yesterday."

The man was startled a bit: "Oh hi Teyla! Watch out, you almost made me jump out of my skin there" he chuckled.

She stared at him: "Make you jump out of you skin? I don't see how… but I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention!" she said with regret.

That comment made John laugh out loud; he then settled when Teyla looked at him quizzically: "I'm sorry, it's just an expression. But yes, we didn't get much time with all that happened with that mission with the Genii. Malok sauce?" he asked, offering some. He rubbed his belly, where the baby had kicked, with a small grimace on his face.

"No thanks. How are you fairing?" she asked, with a warm smile. "The little one has grown a lot since the last time I saw you… May I?"

Sheppard nodded and took her hand to his rounded stomach.

Her smile grew even larger: "It is so strange, yet it feels so amazing that a man can live through this almost as any woman would." She looked up into his eyes: "We all missed you dearly, colonel. We're happy you're back."

John laughed at her first sentence. "Yeah, sometimes do I wonder why I did this…" He sighed, as he arched his back to relieve some pressure. "But yeah, I missed you too. It was rather boring on Earth." He inhaled deeply: "But now I'm back!" he added, with a large smile.

"Rodney will be happy. He didn't say it, but I think he was the one who missed you the most." Her face then changed: "You should have seen him, during those weeks. He was… a disaster. His break up with Jennifer also damaged him a lot. And what happened yesterday…"

"Yeah, I know, he told me. It kinda brought him back to reality. He also apologized to Alexander for all that happened after his miscarriage. I'm happy he came to his senses; it was getting to the kid's mind. I pushed Alexander to go see the psychologist, Dr. Braun; when he went to see her after his miscarriage, it had done him some good. Thankfully, he's better at talking than McKay and I, it helped him a lot."

Teyla nodded: "I'm happy to hear about it. It saddened me to see Alexander and Rodney in such misery." She then put a hand on John's: "And what did Rodney say to _you_?"

A timid smile appeared on Sheppard's face: "I think that McKay was a little bit shaken yesterday, and he sounded rushed or something like that. It was as if nothing had happened between him and Jennifer. I am happy that he changed his mind about… us, but I don't want to rush anything. I understand that he wants to make up for the stuff he did and said, but…"

Raising an eyebrow, Teyla asked: "I don't mean to sound impolite, but isn't it what you wanted?"

Looking at his fingers, the man answered: "I guess so, but I… I don't know what to do, how to react to this. Yes, it _is_ what I wanted, but it seems too… Real. Sudden. I know that I have… feelings for Rodney, but he… loved Jennifer. I just want to take this slowly and not mess anything up."

"I see… so you are going to discuss with him of all this?"

At that, Sheppard made a face: "Yeah, well… you know how talking is, with Rodney. And I'm no expert either…"

Teyla had a pensive look on her face: "Maybe using someone neutral, to help the dialogue? Maybe Dr. Braun could help out."

"I guess she could always try." He sighed, and traced some random patterns on his belly lazily, lost in thoughts. "I can't wait for… her to come out. I miss off-world missions and…" he made some gestures with his hands, "you know, being outside and stuff."

The athosian woman laughed warmly. "I understand what you mean. I remember feeling the same way, when I was pregnant with Torren."

Sheppard got up with some difficulties, by using the table as a support. He then took the empty plastic cup: "I'm going to visit Rodney, at the infirmary. Carson wanted him to stay for at least 24 hours to check on his injuries. Would you like to come?"

"No thanks, I wanted to visit my people before going on a trading mission" she said, as she got up herself. "I'll leave you two to talk. See you later!"

...o.o.o...

"There's something I didn't tell you, Sheppard."

Rising an eyebrow, John let out a "Oh?"

"Yesterday, when I decided to go save Alexander and the rest of Lorne's team… I actually was going to do anything -and when I say _anything_, I mean it- to save him." He looked deeply into the other's hazel eyes. "Even if I would have died in the process."

This made Sheppard's breath hitch slightly; to know that Rodney was ready to leave his life behind. He didn't know what took him, but he blurted out: "I'm sorry."

The scientist tried to shrug it off, but John didn't want to hear it.

The dark-haired man took the other's hand. "I'm really sorry, Rodney. I wish I could have been there, instead of leaving for Earth like I did. I was a coward to leave my best friend like this."

McKay looked at their linked hands, feeling the warmth from John's. He smiled shyly. "No one has touched my hand like this… in a while. Towards the end, Jennifer didn't even want to hold my hand." He paused, taking a long breath in. "Thanks, Sheppard. For being nice like that."

Squeezing gently McKay's hand, John admitted: "Look, I'm not mad at you -well, not anymore-, because I understood that I would have to be mad at myself as well. But I don't want to dwell on the past. Not now. What about your recent projects? I've been out of the loop for some time…"

Rodney's smiled widened, and he was happy to answer the question…

...o.o.o...

A few days later, Alexander was in his small quarters, doing some research, when the doorbell rang.

"Come in!" he yelled, from his desk.

When the door opened, a young woman entered: "Hi!" she hollered joyously.

Hearing a voice he knew, Alexander turned around: "Hey, Sarah! How are you doing?"

"How am I doing?! You're the one who ended up as a hostage!" she lied down on his bed.

"Huh… yeah." He became slightly flustered, not really knowing what to answer to that. His face reddened slightly from the stress. "Well, yeah, my dad came to the rescue!" he said, laughing nervously.

Her face illuminated: "Your dad is Dr McKay? Wow!" she exclaimed.

The young man then remembered that he hadn't told Sarah who his parents were. He wanted to keep that a secret because he didn't want her to judge him on _what_ they were. In his own dimension, people would judge his actions by comparing him to his parents. "Yeah. I thought I had told you." He sighed. "But about yesterday, I'm fine. Just a big scare" he tried to change the subject. "And how are _you_, doing? Still haven't told me" he added, with a charming smile.

She laughed softly. "I'm doing great! You know what? Two weeks ago they gave me the ATA gene treatment and it worked; so I have to train in order to be able to pilot those small ships…" She put a finger on her chin, trying to remember their name.

"The puddle jumpers?"

She frowned: "Huh, yeah, that's it! Well, my training is only going to start in a week, so I have plenty of time to pick up the trash. Yay!" she said sarcastically.

"So you came here to tell me all this?"

She sprang up, standing quickly: "No!" she giggled. "I wanted to know if…" she hesitated.

"If?" This had piqued Alexander's curiosity.

"Wanna go out for lunch? Like… as in a date?" she blushed beet red, after letting the words out of her mouth.

He was taken by surprise, so he could only let out a quick "What?" before correcting himself: "I mean, of course!" he laughed nervously. He usually was the one to ask girls out. But that girl, Sarah… she was something else; she was able to render him into a stuttering mess.

"Really?- I mean, yes, of course you'd agree!" Sarah paused, then faking over-confidence, she beamed: "I knew you'd say yes, no one can resist my charm!"

And both started to laugh at that last sentence.

The young woman dried her eyes and got up with a sigh: "Ahhh, laughing is so much fun. Okay then is tomorrow at noon good for you?"

Alexander nodded: "At the mess hall?"

She shook her head: "Nah, too boring. The mainland? Are we allowed to use the jumpers for that?"

Making a face, the young man knew that he could always ask Sheppard for a favor; the older man would probably agree if he knew how this was important to him. "Yeah, I guess I could find a way to get us one." He smiled widely.

Returning the smile, she walked towards the door: "Okay then, see you tomorrow at 12 in the jumper bay. Ciao!" and she left, excited.

...o.o.o...

"No, you can't."

"But moooooommm" Alexander whined, sounding much like a five-year-old.

"Don't 'mom' me. You know that these ships are used only for missions and… important stuff" Sheppard objected. His arms crossed in front of his chest, sitting on his large belly, he wasn't ready to give in.

The young man was standing in his mother's quarters. His shoulders slumped, his mouth made a pout and he exclaimed: "But moooom! This is like, really important and stuff! It's like… my first date since… well, since a long time ago! You can't do this to me!" he whined again.

"I am happy for you, but I seriously can't." He sighed loudly, and sat down with some difficulty on his bed. "Why don't you go somewhere else?"

Alexander made a face: "She asked if we could use the jumpers and I told her I'd take care of it." He looked straight into Sheppard's eyes: "I can't go back on my word!" He then threw his arms in the air desperately.

Sheppard shook his head: "Sorry, kid. Why don't you go have a picnic on one of the piers, the view is pretty nice, near the water." He even dared to wiggle his eyebrows: "With a setting sun, it can be romantic, ya know."

Alexander facepalmed himself: "Really, mom? You had to go there" he then shook his hands trying to express his thoughts with gesture, "at the romantic stuff and the eyebrow wiggle. What do you think I am? Thirteen?"

It made John snort. "Sorry about that, I couldn't stop myself" he admitted. "Now I understand why parents seem so 'out of fashion' to their kids; we like to tease them too much" he said with a gleeful expression.

The young man rolled his eyes exaggeratedly: "Sure. Now, why can't you influence someone to help me out?" He tried the best he could to make puppy eyes.

"Because," Sheppard started with a serious tone, "I don't want people to think that I'm doing favoritism, just because you're my…" he wiggled his hands in the air, "…son." He sighed: "You're putting me in a bad position here, you see?"

With a defeated nod, Alexander said: "Okay then…" An idea popped in his head and his face lit as he almost ran to the quarters' door: "I'll go ask dad, then!" And he left with a laugh.

Sheppard rolled his eyes and scoffed; of course he'd try the 'dad' card.

Alexander ran towards the labs, where he was sure he'd find Rodney.

As he opened the door, he was greeted with the familiar voice of his father, yelling that the other scientists were complete idiots. He was in front of a white board full of schematics, trying to solve something that Alexander didn't have a clue about.

Smiling, the young man walked closer to the head of department: "Hey dad!"

"Oh hi Alexander!" the older man changed mood instantly at seeing him. "Came to see what you could help me with?" But Rodney didn't let the other answer, that he continued immediately: "Great! You can start by-"

"-Dad!" the young man stopped him. He then cleared his throat: "I kinda need you to help me out with something…"

"Oh. Sorry for blabbering like that. What do you need me for?"

Alexander danced on his feet nervously: "Well I need to borrow a jumper for… a date?"

That caught Rodney's attention: "A date? Ohhh I _see_." He wiggled his eyebrows, just like Sheppard had done.

So the young man stopped him right away: "Okay, can you all please stop doing that? Geez, it's not like I'm going to propose to her… anyways, I need a jumper to go to the mainland. We're having lunch tomorrow and I promised her I'd take care of it."

A flash of confusion passed in McKay's face: "Why didn't you ask Sheppard about it? He's the one that takes care of the security and stuff like that, on Atlantis."

"That's because he didn't want to give me one" Alexander made a face.

Realization hit home: "Oh, I see now: you went to see mommy first and he said no, so now you're thinking daddy's gonna say yes. Right?" the scientist said, with a smug expression.

Knowing he would be refused his request, the young man's shoulders dropped: "Yeah…"

"Sure, why not. I could always send some random scientist collect some data on the mainland, and you and your date could tag along…"

If his jaw could have hit the floor, it would have. "Wha- I mean… thanks, dad!" Alexander exclaimed loudly and promptly gave his father a hug and left the small lab with a quick: "Seriously, thank you! We have to leave at noon, in the jumper bay! Bye!"

Rodney stayed there for a minute, feeling happy with what just happened. He was glad to know that the young man wasn't resentful about what had happened in the past months. With that, he resumed his work, more positive than a few minutes before.

* * *

Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait, I've started painting and what little time I had to write I took it to paint hehe. And some laziness sprinkled here and there. So yeah.

Also, I wanted to know if you guys were interested to hear more about Alexander and Sarah? I know that she's an OC (and yeah... Alexander is too, technically), so I wanted to make sure you'd want me to write more. And how do you like the story? I haven't had a review since chapter 11, and this was chapter 15!

Guys, I know it's easy to close the window or the tab once you've finished reading, but PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU TO LEAVE A REVIEW! :( So that's why I've taken the initiative to leave more comments/reviews when I read fics that I like. Authors don't always respond, but at least they know that I liked it :)

See you guys next time!


	16. Me, uncomfortable?

**Me, uncomfortable?**

McKay was sitting in the movie room, watching a movie with Sheppard.

Alexander had set them up, making them think that team SGA-01 would meet for a movie night, but instead no one but McKay and Sheppard had shown up.

They had gone along and started watching the movie, sitting on each side of the couch.

The movie was half-way through, when John yawned loudly. It was still early evening, but the pregnant man was having a lot of trouble staying awake; he was not getting much sleep at night because of the baby moving and because he wasn't comfortable. On top of that, when he would wake up in the middle of the night, he would crave human touch, someone just to reassure him that everything was fine and to cuddle with, before going back to sleep. So instead, he would stay awake for a while, then going back to an uncomfortable sleep or having to get up to kill some time. He ended up feeling very alone, every time.

So now, close to sleep, he instinctively scooted closer to Rodney.

"Come on, move a bit" John said, as he slouched against the couch and the scientist, with some difficulties.

Rodney reluctantly did as asked and moved, putting his hands on each side of his body. He seemed to be waiting for something, as if he didn't know how to act.

"Oh come on, Rodney. It's not going to kill you to relax, for a change."

The scientist felt awkward as he put his arm around the other man's shoulders. At first, he was tense, but loosened as time passed.

Sheppard felt content as he snuggled closer to Rodney, trying to get comfortable and get more heat; he too felt a little bit awkward cuddling with his best friend, but it felt right, so he didn't care much. That stupid craving for human touch. "Thanks, I needed this."

"No prob" McKay answered awkwardly. Even though his voice wasn't as assertive as when he'd be in his lab, he knew that deep down, in his heart, this whole thing felt right. "Sorry, about being weird like that." He cleared his throat: "Don't worry, it's not you… it's just… you know, I'm bad with… people." He didn't exactly have a great record in the relationships department.

That made Sheppard smile: "That's fine. I know all that, Rodney. We _have_ known each other for years now. I'm used to it."

That single thought comforted the scientist, like a warmth spreading through his body; Sheppard was accepting him for who he was, and not for who he could be. So with his free hand, he reached out for John's hand, who linked their hands together.

Feeling better, Rodney leaned his head against the dark haired man's and they stayed like that for a few minutes, until the pregnant man let out another loud yawn.

With his eyes closed, heavy with sleep, he declared: "I should go to bed. It's getting late for me."

Looking at his watch, McKay let out a surprised: "But it's only 8 pm!"

"Tell that to the little monster who keeps me awake at night." John reluctantly tore himself from Rodney to try to get up, not without difficulty. Failing at the first try, he then scooted over to the edge of the couch to give him better leverage.

Rodney noticed that and helped by getting up before John tried a second time and pulled him by his hand.

The dark-haired man smiled shyly: "Thanks."

They were standing close, face to face. Looking in each other's eyes, a tension could now be felt. Rodney hadn't let go of Sheppard's hand all that time, not really realizing it until the pregnant man gently pulled it away from his grasp.

"I… should go. Thanks for the movie" John smiled. "It was nice, we should do this again."

Rodney smiled back and replied with: "Yeah, it was nice."

They both stood there, not really knowing how to end this; were they supposed to just shake hands? Hug? A peck on the cheek? Sheppard internally groaned at the ridiculousness of the situation. So he brought his arms forward and hugged Rodney the best he could with his large stomach in the way and bid him good night.

As the pregnant man waddled his way to the door and left, McKay stood there, relishing the light tingling feeling where Sheppard had touched him. Weirdly enough, he liked it. And before he knew it, a goofy smile appeared on his face.

...o.o.o...

In a medical lab, furiously typing on his laptop, Alexander didn't hear Sarah come in. "Hey sexy boy, what'cha doing?" she said as she encircled her arms around his shoulders from behind.

He startled, but regained composure quickly: "I'm huh… working on something. A medical project." He was surrounded by books. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Oh? That's interesting! Is it something that Dr Beckett asked you to work on?" She loosened her arms from his shoulders to pull a stool and sit beside him.

Alexander hesitated: he didn't want to say it was for his mom. He didn't want to breach the subject with Sarah yet, because he was afraid she would be freaked out by the fact that his _mom_ was pregnant _and_ a man. And not to forget: who his parents actually were… "Oh god!" he exclaimed out loud. He had never told her that he was from another dimension as well!

She frowned quizzically: "Is there something wrong?"

He looked at her, like a deer caught in the headlights: "No… no." He inhaled sharply. "Actually… yes. There's something I think you should know about me; I'd rather you back away from me now, than later."

The young woman stared at him intensely: "Coming to this galaxy has opened my eyes, and I've never been really closed-mind -at least that's what people have been telling all my life- but sure, if you have something on your chest, let it out" she let out quickly. She took his hands in hers and smiled softly. "I'm ready to hear it."

It felt like an eternity, as he stared into her light brown eyes. And then he took his courage and clearly stated: "I kinda lied to you: my mom is actually a man, and it's colonel John Sheppard."

She sat there, speechless for a moment, with a surprised look.

"Oh, and I'm from a parallel dimension." He then scratched the back of his neck nervously.

And then Sarah exploded, offended: "I can't believe you lied to me!" She then promptly took her hands back. Scrunching her nose and making a face, she stayed silent, not trusting her tongue.

Alexander was afraid to say something, so he waited for her speak first.

The young woman closed her eyes in concentration. She inhaled deeply to focus: "Okay. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to yell, but yes, you lied to me and I don't like that. But-!" she rose a finger in the hair to stop him from intervening. "I _do_ understand why you'd do it." She paused, trying to find the good wording: "I admit that… that… having two men as parents is still uncommon today… but I'm fine with that." She nodded at herself, liking how it came out, then waited for Alexander to say something.

It was now the young man's turn to look dumbfounded. He thought she would leave him, but it seems Sarah was full of surprises. "Huhh… yeah. That's _not_ how I had imagined you would react." After a short pause, he started laughing nervously. "But since I come from an alternate dimension, my parents aren't the Dr McKay and colonel Sheppard you know here."

Sarah looked at the young man, curious: "How come you seem to be close to them, here?"

"Well… that's because I came here a few years ago, because my parents had sent me in this dimension; there was a war coming and they wanted me safe. So, I lived with Dr McKay and colonel Sheppard for almost a year. And since I was only four almost five years old, I wasn't aware that 'mom and dad' were not the same here, in this dimension."

The young woman giggled slightly: "And how did they take it that they had a kid together, in another dimension? I have a hard time to imagine those two manly men as a couple, but… we never know people like we think we do, huh?"

Alexander scoffed nervously: "You could say that they weren't quite the 'happy couple' at first. Dr McKay was the one who had the most difficulties accepting, in the beginning…" He then moved closer to her, whispering: "And don't repeat this to anyone, I kinda helped them out; before I came here, when I was a kid, I'm pretty sure they had never thought of each other as a couple." He laughed, leaning away, and said with a boasting tone: "I'm like their guardian angel."

"But why did you lie to me about who your parents were?" Sarah pouted mockingly.

Looking aside, the young man's mouth twitched. "Well, besides the fact that I have two men as my parents, _and_ that one if them bore me for nine months?"

The young woman looked surprised. "He -he-he… for nine months? I thought they had adopted you…!"

He chuckled. "Look, don't take it personally, but back in my dimension, people would always compare my parents' careers and successes to mine, so I don't have the habit of telling new people I meet; I want them to know me for who I am… But it's mostly for the first reason; I'm proud of having two dads, but I know that it's not every one's cup of tea."

With a huge smile on her face, Sarah got up and wrapped her arms around his neck and admitted: "Okay well, after hearing your argument, I'll get over the fact that you lied to me. I do admit that you have a…"

"Weird background?"

"Yeah… I was going to say, interesting" she admitted, after rolling her eyes playfully. "But I don't think this is going to stop me from liking you like I do." And she leaned in to steal a kiss.

Surprise was evident on Alexander's face as she leaned back to look at him. "Hum, well… I'm glad to hear that." He then looked a little worried: "But even though I'm really glad to see you and all, I really must continue what I was doing…"

"Which was?" She dropped her arms from his neck to take a look at the screen of his laptop.

"Well… since you know, colonel Sheppard is pregnant, he will have to be operated on, to… give birth to his daughter. And call me paranoid if you want, but I'm doing as much research as possible, in case something would happen…" He then stopped, emotions coming up and he didn't want to look weak in front of his girlfriend. "And there's the nanites… I have to keep this in mind too…"

But too late, she had picked that up: "Aww, I'm sure everything's gonna be fine." She got up, and then gave him a peck on his cheek: "Very well, I'll leave you to it. Make me proud!" And she left.

He blushed slightly at having her entire support; he could only nod and let out a quick "Thanks" before hitting the books again.

When Sarah came back, a few hours later, she found Alexander asleep on one of his books. She had brought him a sandwich and a bottle of water, but seeing him, she put them quietly beside him on the table. She then took his coat that he had discarded earlier on one of the stools, and put it on his shoulders to keep him warm. And she left, without a sound, a soft smile on her face.

...o.o.o...

"Sheppard, eat your plate. You've barely touched it for the last half-hour."

"But Rodneeeyyyyy I'm not hungry…" John trailed on.

The scientist put down his fork. "Look, John. You're having my baby. It's not like your simply helping me out with building a patio. This is far more important and we need more resources than just some nails and planks. I know that you you're not sure about keeping it, but we still have to give those... future parents a healthy baby; this is what we need to do. Consequently, you have to eat well and put on some weight. I have to make up for all the time I wasn't there to help you… and you're too skinny to my taste."

John groaned at that last sentence; oh how he hated the idea of stuffing himself just to put on some weight. "It's not like the baby is missing any nutrients, _just_ because I'm ..._thin_, Rodney."

The scientist shook his head: "No, of course not. But you're missing them because the baby's taking them all."

Sheppard groaned but ate nonetheless.

McKay beamed and continued to eat his own meal, feeling victorious.

Rolling his eyes, the dark-haired man tried to hide his smirk, but it turned into a full-blown laugh.

The scientist looked from his plate and joined in the laugh.

...o.o.o...

A few days later, while he was walking around the city late in the evening, Sheppard tripped on a step, lost his balance, and fell on one knee.

"Sir!" two marines yelled as they were passing by. They rushed at his side to help him get back up by supporting him under the arms.

"Okay! Okay! I'm fine" he told the soldiers as he tried to keep some dignity. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but hadn't the soldiers came around, he would probably still be on the floor, trying to get up.

"Are you alright, sir?" one of them asked. "I mean... is it the baby?"

John had felt the nervousness in the marine's voice. Everyone on the base was on their toes, afraid of an accident or something like that. "No, she's fine. Seriously. You can go now."

"But sir, what were you doing here alone in this part of the city?" the other marine asked, hovering near.

Nervous too? John sighed. This was getting ridiculous. "Okay. You wanna know why I'm here? Fine I'll tell you." He then narrowed his eyes menacingly: "But don't you dare tell anyone about this. Got it?"

Both soldiers let out a straight "Yes sir!"

It was then that Sheppard was glad the lighting was bad in that part of the city, because they wouldn't see his cheeks red from embarrassment: "I was going to take a nap, but the baby wouldn't stop kicking. Walking lulls her to sleep. But I have to walk for half an hour for that to work, so I came around here to be _alone_. There, said. Now return to your duties."

"You can walk with us, sir. This way if you fall again, we'll be there to catch you" the younger of the two marines offered.

A thought crossed Sheppard's mind and he squinted his eyes menacingly: "Did McKay put you up to this?" For a good measure, he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The two marines seemed uncomfortable. The eldest then answered: "No, sir. All of us are trying to avoid him."

"And why's that?" John asked, curious. He shifted his weight on his other leg.

"It's... like he's angry all the time and keeps bossing us around, saying we're not following you around to protect you" the younger one replied back with his head low in shame.

"... And no told me because...?" Sheppard almost growled. His stance changed from curious to annoyed.

Both soldiers exchanged worried looks.

Sheppard shook his head: "Okay, you know what? I don't need you to verbalize it." He raised his hand in a stop motion. "It's probably something like 'we mustn't stress the colonel, it's bad for the baby' or shit like that." Now, he was angry. Great. He looked at the soldiers and sighed; they looked terrified of him. "Just... go. Return to your duties. I'm going to bed." His good mood from earlier was gone. All thanks to Rodney's protective obsession; he was a grown man, for pete's sake and he didn't need any protection from anything or anyone.

As he turned around to go back to his quarters, the soldiers were left, mouth agape at the retreating colonel.

...o.o.o...

As he walked in the empty corridors n, a feeling of ridiculousness invaded him. His eyes started to sting. "That's it, John. Cry like the big stupid baby you are" he said out loud. But what made him cry the most, was the unfounded anger he felt towards Rodney. It was spinning out of control, like all of his emotions lately. Damn hormones.

He decided to take a break and leaned against the wall, trying to calm down and try not to let his emotions take control of him. Unfortunately, the baby had woken up and was kicking and punching. He would have to go talk to Rodney and give him a lecture about scaring his soldiers later. He groaned, feeling useless, fresh tears slid down his cheeks.

"John?" A soft voice inquired.

He looked up towards the person who had spoken, slightly startled; he had thought to be alone.

Teyla noticed that the colonel was crying. Knowing better than to mention it, the Athosian woman extended her hand towards the man: "What are you doing at this time of the night?"

Sheppard took her hand, and with his free one, he dried his tears. "I huh…" He sniffed. "Well I couldn't sleep because the… baby was too active." His cheeks were stained with a light blush; it was awkward to tell this to someone, but he guessed Teyla was the best person to understand his situation. "And my hips have been killing me for the past days. So this doesn't help either."

"That's normal, your hips are not made to carry a baby like a woman's." She then thought about something. "How about we go to my quarters, I'll make you some herbal tea to help with the pain and I'll teach you how to meditate?"

"Meditate? You know I have a hard time staying put."

"Yes, I know. But I am sure this could benefit you and your daughter" she said with a smile, as she put her free hand lightly on his rounded stomach. She felt a kick and laughed softly: "You're right, she _is_ awake."

Pulling on their linked hand, she guided him towards her quarters. "Maybe you'll even be able to feel with your daughter through meditation."

Sheppard looked at her questionably at first, but then remembered that when Teyla had been pregnant, she had been able to use her wraith blood to talk with her son through meditation. "You think so?"

"Well you see, I think that maybe the city could help you with that. You know how it reacts to your gene. And we all saw how it reacted to the Ancients when they came back; with you and your child's strong genes, the city would help out. And who knows, maybe you'll discover some of her secrets."

"It does make sense" the man admitted.

When they arrived, the Athosian woman lit the candles around her room and put some cushions on the floor for John to sit on more comfortably. "Here, I'll help you" she offered the pregnant man. "Now give me a few minutes, I'll prepare the herbs for the tea."

While waiting, the older man had time to think. John's feelings were hurt again; he had needed help to sit down on the floor.

When the tea was ready, Teyla brought a cup to the colonel.

"Thanks" he said shyly. He blew on it to cool it off, and took a few sips. The warm liquid soothed his nerves.

Teyla settled herself on the ground and crossed her legs and explained to John to focus on his breathing and try to find that little fragment of light inside him, inside his belly, that was his daughter.

Setting the cup aside, John moved his legs, arms and back in the meditation position. After a few minutes, he could feel his whole body relaxing.

The man tried to focus, but feeling nothing, his patience quickly thinned, and his back hurt: "Argh. It's useless, I can't seem to feel what you described." He slumped slightly, feeling deflated. He sighed. "But at least, the kid's asleep, I should get back to my to my quarters and try to get some sleep myself." He unfolded his legs and scrunching his face, he admitted reluctantly: "Okay, I'll be needing some help to stand up."

Teyla tried her best to hide her smile so to not upset John. "Here, take my hand." As she helped him up, she mentioned: "You know, you shouldn't give up. It may not have worked the first time that you tried, but maybe next time you'll be able to feel a little something. I think practice is what you need." When the man was up on his feet, she added with a soft smile: "Come now, I'll walk you back to your quarters."

He yawned loudly. "Sorry, can't control it when it happens" he said sheepishly.

* * *

Sorry to... whoever is still reading this? for the long wait.

_I wanted to thank the only person who reviewed last chapter, 'Guest'. _I think it's sad that I don't get much reviews; but how can I tell if you guys like it or not if you people don't talk to me? :(

Whatever. So after uploading this chapter, I realized that originally, this story was supposed to be only 13 chapters long when I planned it. And now, the way it's going, I'm probably finish with something closer to 20 chapters, more or less... wow. I'm quite proud of myself :)


	17. Protecting you

**Protecting you**

After his last attempt at meditation, Sheppard had been pushed by Teyla to try it again, a few days later.

And so, alone, in his room, he was trying to recreate the same thing the Athosian woman had shown him, before going to sleep. He evened his breathing and tried to focus on imagining his daughter as a source of light. His body relaxed, and his mind opened.

It was only for a second, but he felt warmth tickling his heart. After, it disappeared.

So he tried again, this time, putting more effort into it.

Since he had his eyes closed, he couldn't see the lights in his quarters flashing.

He frowned, focusing his feelings toward the small light and the warmth he had felt. He smiled, as it twirled in his mind, like a kite flying in the sky.

Feeling satisfied with his progress, he tried to get in touch with the city. Like Teyla had said, maybe he would learn about some of her secrets.

But as he tried to reach out, the only he could hear was singing in what he thought was Ancient language. It was soft, like a lullaby.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, basking in the soft melody the Ancient city was playing for him.

'_John Sheppard, we are happy that you are communicating with me._'

"Huh? Who said that?" the man whispered, trying not to break his concentration.

'_It is I, the city of the Ancients._'

"Oh, hello then…"

'_I can feel your genes are stronger than when you first came here some years ago. Your child's gene is strong; it has been a very long time since one with the Ancient gene was born on this city._'

"Huh… yes" Sheppard could only say. "I am aware of that."

'_I detect you are feeling weary, you should sleep_.'

At first, he wanted to deny that and try to learn more, talking with Atlantis, but a yawn he could not stifle made itself known.

As he fell into the dreamworld, he could still hear the soft humming of the city's song.

...o.o.o...

A week after, sitting in the conference room, Atlantis' leader and Rodney were discussing what had happened earlier in the command room. There had been a call from an old acquaintance of Sheppard.

Woolsey, hands linked together, had a frown marring his face: "You're telling me that this... Wraith-"

"-Todd."

"Yes, Todd... he's communicated with Atlantis again. Didn't he ruin our life enough already?"

Rodney did nod, but added: "Yes, but! This time he has a plan that could work... at least until we can find something else more... permanent."

"And that would be?" Woolsey asked, skeptically.

"Well that's the thing… we don't know… at least, not the entire plan" McKay answered sheepishly.

The older man frowned: "What do you mean, 'not the entire plan'?"

Wiggling his hands in the air, the scientist admitted: "Well he did talk about hibernation for all the Wraiths, but he had some conditions, and one of them was coming to Atlantis to talk about it."

A loud sigh was heard: "So I'm guessing he found a way to force them into hibernation? This could be very useful…"

"That's what I'm guessing as well, but is it really a good idea? I mean, if he has to come here…" Rodney trailed on.

"…We don't exactly have a great record with Wraiths visiting Atlantis."

Rodney made a face: "Well… it's not like we have a lot of choices, either."

Putting a hand to his forehead, Woolsey massaged it, hoping the headache he was sensing coming, would go away. He sighed. "Very well, I'll think about it. Give me the day, and I'll see what I can do."

The scientist nodded. "Okay, I'll go back to my lab, got some stuff to do."

Sitting back into his chair, the ex-IOA member thought about what Rodney had just said; they would have to prepare, in order to be one step ahead the Wraith.

...o.o.o...

In the end, Woolsey had decided that they would go with Todd's condition to meet on Atlantis.

Sitting in his office, at his desk, Carson wasn't liking it one bit. "This can only end badly, I know it… I can feel it." Taking his PDA, he looked at some scans.

"Your 'doctor senses' are tingling?" Rodney threw in sarcastically, starting to get annoyed by his rambling friend.

That question made Beckett stop his reading: "What?"

The scientist shook his head: "Nevermind." He then walked toward a shelf, looking at random items. "I understand what you mean, it's just that we don't have much choice." He turned around to face the Scottish man: "But we don't have much choice. If we want to stop the Wraith, we must try… stuff."

"But must it be this?" the other man said, as he continued to fill out his papers.

"I know, Carson. But if, one day, we want to live safely here, we must try. Even if it means postponing their death by putting them into hibernation again, I'm all for it."

"But have you thought about colonel Sheppard?" the doctor inquired. "He's entered his ninth month last week, it's gonna dangerous for him with the Wraiths on Atlantis." He started gesticulating, when realization hit his face: "What if they learn about his condition and they want to catch him and keep him for themselves? Or-"

"-Okay, shut up, Carson!" Rodney shuddered lightly: "I don't need you to tell me all this, I know… I know." He sighed. "I don't want anything wrong to happen. So I have to make sure that everything is planned, so that if anything, and I mean _anything_ happens… we're ready."

The Scottish doctor nodded. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

Taking a deep breath to think, Rodney tried to find something that would be necessary. "I guess you could come up with some kind of emergency plan. Like… I dunno…." He made some random gestures: "You know, medical stuff."

"Very well, Rodney." Beckett took a paper and wrote on it. "There, took note of it. I won't forget."

Clasping his hands together, the scientist said before leaving the doctor's office: "Good! Now I have to go back to the lab, to prepare for the Wraiths' arrival which is next week. See ya later, Carson."

"Bye, Rodney!" the other man waved.

...o.o.o...

Later that day, Alexander was trying to focus on his books, working on something that Carson had asked him to.

He decided to take a break, so closing his laptop and leaving his books, he set his course to the mess hall.

There he found Ronon and Teyla, eating at table.

The tall Satedan looked tense since that morning, when they had been told that Todd would be coming to Atlantis the following week.

Teyla, who was trying to act normal, welcomed him: "Good afternoon, Alexander. How are you?"

"Same as usual" he answered, at he sat down on a plastic chair. "But I'm not liking it one bit that the Wraith is coming here in a few days. And I'm guessing that you guys are thinking the same."

Nodding, the Athosian woman warned him: "If we are not careful enough, anything could happen. And I'm worried John is going to rebel against the idea of him not being present to the meeting…"

"Teyla's right, Sheppard's not gonna like this."

Alexander knew that, but it was Dr. Beckett who had asked to reveal the information about the meeting only a day before the meeting to the colonel. "Yeah, well it's not like we have much choice. I won't go against Carson's orders, he's the doctor after all." He looked serious as he clasped his hands together: "Can I count on you guys to be ready for anything? I'm trying to build a Plan B… and maybe a C and a D too. We never know. The more people are ready, the better we have a chance of going through this."

"What's your plan?" Ronon asked, curious.

The young man made a face: "I can't tell you, right now. It's not ready yet. But, I'm working on it." He then got up: "I have to go, I have much to do and so little time."

Teyla and Ronon both nodded and bid Alexander goodbye.

Before leaving the mess hall, he took a sandwich and a drink and set his course to go see Colonel Carter.

...o.o.o...

In her office, Sam was filling out some reports.

A knock made her look up at the sound. "Oh, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, ma'am" Alexander answered politely.

Which made her chuckle: "Oh please, you can call me Sam. Gimme a second, I just need to finish this…" she said, as she typed something on her PDA.

"What are you working on?" he asked curiously. He then realized how it sounded impolite and invasive: "I'm sorry, it's none of my business…"

Samantha smiled. "It's okay, I was actually finishing the planning for next week's meeting with Todd." She put down her computer tablet and asked: "So, young man, what I can help you with?"

"I wanted to know exactly how is the meeting with Todd has been planned."

Surprise flashed in the older woman's face. "Well… huh. You see, I can't really tell you that, since you're not part of the senior members of the city."

Making a face, Alexander replied: "Yeah, ok. I see."

Putting her elbows on her desk and supporting her head with her clasped fists, curious: "Why would you need that plan?"

"You are aware that colonel Sheppard is very close to what Dr Beckett has predicted to be his 'due date'." When the blonde woman nodded, Alexander continued: "Well I have a feeling we must be prepared for anything. You know how the Wraith can be unpredictable; I don't want mom -or my little sister- to be hurt in the process."

Looking into the young man's eyes, Sam could see determination and a lot of wisdom for his age. Her mind spun wildly, thinking about all this. She then looked intently at Alexander. She slowly got up: "I'm hungry, I think I'll go to the mess hall. I should be back in _20 minutes_. You need something?"

Confusion was apparent in Alexander's eyes. How could she leave her office like that without asking him to leave… "Oh!" he exclaimed when realization hit home. "Huh, not thanks, I'm fine."

She gave him a pat on his shoulder, before declaring: "Fine, make yourself at home while I'm gone, I'll be right back."

So as soon as she was out of sight, Alexander grabbed the PDA which was lying oh so innocently on the blonde substitute security leader's desk. He mentally thanked her and immediately tried to memorize as much as he could from the meeting's plan.

...o.o.o...

"WHAT!? And since when do you know about this?!" John yelled so loud, people in the hallway could hear him.

The lights flickered uncontrollably for a few seconds.

"Colonel, we learned about it only yesterday" Woolsey lied. He was uneasy lying to the colonel like that.

In the leader's office, the colonel was sitting on a chair. Rodney was standing beside the desk, between the two men.

Sheppard could only harrumph. "You should have told me the moment you learned about it." A smirk then appeared on his face. "Well, if Todd wants to work with us, I guess I can't wait to learn more about his plan." He indeed wondered what did he want.

Looking sideways at McKay, the Atlantis leader made a face: "You… are not going to be present for the meeting, colonel."

John choked on his saliva. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I heard correctly." There, a flicker in the room's lights again. "I don't understand, I _am _the security leader of the city. I _have_ to be there."

"No, at the moment, colonel Samantha Carter is" Woolsey corrected him.

The sharp answer made the pregnant man scoff. He could not go against that fact. "Well… I don't see why I couldn't be there, as a support, then."

That's when McKay reacted: "You won't be there, because it's not gonna be safe for you." He then glared at the concerned man.

Whom glared back. "That's ridiculous! I can very well take care of myself."

Punching the desk in frustration, the scientist let out a: "You idiot!"

It made John freeze on the spot, from the sheer emotion.

"How can you be so selfish!? You are not alone! How will you protect your unborn daughter?"

The last sentence struck truth in John's mind. His heart beating fast, many emotions spiraled inside him. Encircling his rounded belly, he could only mutter: "You're… you're right. I'm sorry, Rodney." He tried his best to hold back his tears. "Fine. I won't be present, but I still want to have some eyes and ears inside that room."

Woolsey nodded: "Very well, we'll get some cameras to be installed."

Rodney added: "This way you will be able to follow, but will be safer." He approached the colonel and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. But sometimes," he sighed, "I wonder what goes on in that thick head of yours." He squeezed gently the shoulder. "Don't worry, Sheppard, I'll make sure everything goes well."

Putting one of his hand on top of Rodney's, the colonel felt stupid to even have asked to be there for the meeting.

"I'd hate to see something happening to you or the baby, you know" the scientist admitted.

Sheppard only nodded.

"Great! Then it's settled" Woolsey finally said.

...o.o.o...

To greet the Wraiths, there were many soldiers in the gate room. Mr Woolsey and colonel Carter were there, waiting impatiently.

He had come alone, through the gate, as he had said. But his Cruiser was waiting for him in space.

Rodney was on the side, simply because the leader of Atlantis had asked him. He hated Todd with all his life. That Wraith and Sheppard always had a… special connection from the beginning. Not that he was jealous or anything… it's not like John and him were a couple… or anything.

The Wraith analyzed his surroundings; he noticed someone was missing. "I wish to see Sheppard" he said, not liking that the other man wasn't present. He had some problems tolerating Mr Woolsey and his weird manners; the colonel understood him better.

Rodney tried to appear confident: "He's unable to be here, for the moment."

If Todd had had eyebrows, he would have raised one from surprise: "I see. It is certainly disappointing." His mouth twitched slightly.

A rock fell at the bottom of Rodney's stomach; the Wraith knew they were withholding some information. '_That's it, we're doomed!'_

Bringing her body forward, in a manner of an apology, colonel Carter threw in swiftly: "Yes, he told us that he was deeply sorry for not being able to be here."

Woolsey cleared his throat in a nervous way: "Nevertheless, we must start the meeting. Let's go to the conference room; it will be less... crowded."

The other people around the gate were staring at the Wraith intently; every time they had seen one of those life-sucking aliens, the ending never had been positive for Atlantis.

"I'll stay in the command room, sir. If you need me help, simply use the radio, I'll be waiting."

Woolsey nodded. "If you would please follow the marine, Todd, I'd like to start as soon as possible."

* * *

Hello guys! This one was short, but I needed to cut the story there. Sorry! hehe

Next chapter will get some action... actually the next two ones will have some. I'm hoping you guys are going to like it :D

Also, I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed; I feel reassured that some of you still like it :) Again, thank you very much, as well as for the ones who added my story to their alert list! ;)


	18. Walking on a thin line

**Walking on a thin line**

Woolsey started the meeting by going straight to the point: "So as we heard, your plan wouldn't be, sadly a permanent one, but more... temporary?"

Todd nodded. "Putting the hives back into hibernation all at the same time would mean no more callings. Just as you found them when you first came to this galaxy, a few years ago. However, our Hiveship will of course remain awake..." he finished, with a tint of teasing in his voice.

Mr Woolsey nodded reluctantly. "Yes, I see. But your ship will remain intact _only_ if you do not attack Pegasus' populations; we wouldn't want to put our ally's mothership to sleep, right...?"

Yellow eyes focused on brown ones. "Is that a threat, Mr Woolsey?" the Wraith asked, with a small smile.

The leader of Atlantis leaned back into his chair, feigning assurance: "Oh no, it's just a warning..."

Todd's smile widened. "I see, you do not have to worry, we will leave this galaxy alone." He then continued with poise: "Our plan is actually very simple; we need your help to transmit the hibernating gas through teleportation. This is where colonel Sheppard and his team would come in."

An uncomfortable silence installed itself.

Mr Woolsey intervened. "Colonel Sheppard is not available at the moment for missions of any kind."

The Wraith growled lightly. "What?!"

...o.o.o...

"_What?!_"

Todd was getting tired of the same crappy answer over and over again. And Sheppard could feel it; he was sitting in a nearby room, connected to the meeting through a camera and speaker system. He had wanted so bad to go to that meeting, but Mr Woolsey had insisted -ordered him- that he would have to stand out on that one. When John had tried to disobey, Ronon had been there to stop him.

But seeing Todd getting tense, from the fear of betrayal, Sheppard got up.

He got a glare from the Satedan in return.

"Come with me if you want, but I'm going to that meeting." He then left the small room.

Ronon, not wanting his superior in any sort of danger, followed quickly and readied his gun just in case things would get ugly.

...o.o.o...

"Look Todd, we cannot tell you. This is confidential, and we cannot give you the reason why the colonel can't be here..." Mr Woolsey tried to reason the Wraith, but was failing miserably.

At that precise moment, the doors of the conference room swiveled on themselves, revealing Sheppard, in all of his pregnant glory.

The members of the expedition held in their breath.

Todd was speechless.

Sheppard then approached the table, trying not to waddle too much, mustering all the serious he had to look convincing. "Okay, what's the problem here?"

Mr Woolsey abruptly stood up. "Colonel!" he said with a chiding tone. "What are you doing here!?"

Seeing the Atlantis leader and the Wraith's confusion, John said: "Well, I was going crazy in that room" he first said, to Woolsey. Turning at the alien, he added: "And no, I cannot do any missions, because I'm pregnant. There, it's been said. Now that the elephant in the room has been pointed out, can we continue the meeting?"

Todd had heard about old tales, talking about Lantean machines capable of impregnating people. But he thought that they had been destroyed during the Great war, ten thousand years ago. "I see. Well then I think that my plan will not succeed. I came here, with faith that you could help me; you were needed to insure the good proceedings of the mission."

Sheppard sent a look at his team and returned his gaze to the Wraith: "Look, Todd. Even if I can't go, my team is perfectly capable of completing the mission without me. Major Lorne will replace me." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, standing his ground firmly.

Ronon growled lightly, not liking the plan one bit.

John looked at the Satedan, silently asking him to stay calm.

Woolsey then took the silence as an opportunity to cut in: "We will help you, but you must hold your part of the deal and leave the Milky Way and the Pegasus galaxy alone."

With poise, Todd answered: "Of course, this is why we are doing this deal."

Feeling that the tension between them all had lowered a bit, Sheppard now realized that he wasn't feeling well: "I think I'll sit down, my back hurts like hell."

This had the immediate effect of Rodney and Ronon getting to the man's side, pulling a chair for him to sit on.

As McKay was massaging his lower back, Sheppard could only feel embarrassed at all the attention he now had. "I'm not dying, jeez..." he said, with a light blush.

From behind him, Rodney grumbled: "Maybe not, but you're due any time now. We can't have you stressing over something as stupid as a meeting."

When Todd glared at the scientist, the man corrected himself: "Errr -Simple. Yes, something... as _simple _as a meeting." He then let out a nervous laugh.

Mr Woolsey then asked Rodney to _simply_ stop talking, as the more he said, the further his foot got itself into his mouth.

"Mhmm, pregnant humans seem weak; thankfully for us, only the Queen is weak, and even then, she can still fight" Todd observed.

"Excuse me?" John's eye twitched in annoyance. "I'm pretty sure I could still kick your green ass." Hadn't been for Rodney's hand on his shoulder, he would have gotten up to show the Wraith who was the boss… not without struggles, but he would have done it nonetheless… or he would have sent Ronon at him.

Woolsey felt the tension rise again, so he lifted a hand in a stop sign: "Now, now, people. We're not here to start a fight, but an alliance. Please refrain from insulting each other."

Sheppard shook away Rodney's hand and crossed his arms in front on his chest childishly. "Fine..." But it didn't stop him from sending death glares at Todd.

Rodney, of course rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Can we continue, now?" When everyone nodded, he resumed the discussion: "So basically-"

But he was interrupted again, by a piercing sound from the speakers.

"What the-?" Rodney mumbled. Who _dared_ to interrupt him?!

"_Mr Woolsey, we have a Hiveship that just came out of hyperspace. What are the orders?_"

All eyes turned to Todd.

"I did not invite them, if that's what you want to know" he said calmly.

Woolsey quickly responded to Chuck: "Raise the shield. The cloak is useless; if they are here, it's because they know our location on this planet. Better to prepare for an attack."

"_Very well, sir._" A few seconds later, a quick "_Shield activated, sir_" was heard. "_Now waiting for further instructions._"

"Thank you Chuck, I'll be there in a minute." Woolsey got up, and signaled the soldiers to restrain the Wraith sitting at the conference table and bring him down to the cells. "Dr McKay, your presence will be required." He then turned away and left, yelling in his radio: "Colonel Carter, you are needed in the command room, pronto."

Ronon followed the marines and Todd, to make sure he wouldn't try to get away.

The conference room's doors opened, and closed as soon as everyone was out. The only two left were Sheppard and McKay.

Rodney looked quickly at John: the man was in no shape to be under the strain of stress. He walked besides the said man, as the soldiers took Todd away: "You know, Sheppard, you should stay here… or-" he stopped, seeing the glare in the other man's eyes. "Oh don't give me that shit. You're not supposed to over-exert yourself."

The colonel didn't reply.

Which made Rodney react: "Look, John" he said with some ill-hidden anger in his voice. "You know very well where this is going. There's a Hiveship waiting in space. And they won't wait for very long, we both know that well enough from our past experiences with the Wraith."

That got some of John's attention. He looked angrily at the conference table. "You're thinking that they want something from us, and that they'll come down on Atlantis to get it?"

"Well… yeah, probably something like that. So I was actually thinking that you should leave Atlantis-"

"-But-"

"-No buts. We can't have you running around the city while Wraiths can attack any moment" Rodney said firmly. He put both hands on Sheppard's shoulders. "I'll call Alexander, stay here." As soon as he finished his sentence, he had his hand on his radio, calling for the young man. A quick exchange of words and he came back: "Okay, he should be here in five minutes top, I'll go to the command room with Woolsey to try to-"

"_This is your leader, Richard Woolsey, the city is under attack. I repeat: the city is under attack, the Wraith is on Atlantis-_" Then some people were heard screaming before the connection was cut.

"Dammit!" McKay exclaimed. Terror filled his blue eyes: "But how did they…!?" He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Change of plans. Get up, we're leaving. Now!"

Sheppard tried to question Rodney, but the other didn't want to hear any of it.

The scientist pulled on the pregnant man's arm to help him up: "We have to find another way out." He tried his best to contain his state of panic for the other man's sake.

"But why?" John asked as he followed the other man.

"In case they invaded the city by using the Stargate, which is mostly probable." At John's confused expression, the scientist added: "You know, like last time, that Super Hiveship that had a gate inside it?"

Sheppard only nodded. "But there's no other way out… Unless…"

"Unless?" Rodney echoed.

"Can you lock the doors of the conference room?"

The scientist immediately went to work. "What's you plan?" he inquired.

"I'll tell you in a while…" Sheppard said as he sat back down, then closing his eyes to concentrate. As his breath evened out, he tried to listen to that singing he had heard the first time Atlantis had spoken to him.

"There! They're locked" McKay declared.

John was about to abandon when he finally heard it.

'_I heard your plea, John Sheppard. There _is_ a secret door._'

A panel from the room's walls unlocked and opened.

It got both men's attentions. '_Now leave, you must hurry. Take care._'

"What's this?" the scientist frowned.

"Thank you" Sheppard whispered. He then opened his eyes and asked: "Quick, help me get up. The city showed me the door to get out of here."

McKay helped him. "The what?"

Standing straight, Sheppard massaged quickly his back with one hand. "Atlantis. I'll tell you all about this when this is all over."

They walked to the door and shut it. They were now in a narrow corridor which was leading them to another part of the city.

John then stopped in his tracks: "What about Alexander?" He was worried the young man would get caught by the Wraiths.

Immediately, the Canadian tapped his radio again: "Alexander: change of plans. Meet us at my lab. And hurry. McKay, out."

"_Roger that, dad_" was the fast reply.

"Now I know you can't run, but let's try to hurry the pace a bit more, Sheppard" Rodney urged.

...o.o.o...

A few minutes before, back in the command room, Woolsey tried to assess the situation, Ronon at his side.

Samantha jogged in: "What's wrong? I was halfway to the mess hall when I got your call. I didn't think we'd have problems that early into the meeting…"

The ex-IOA member quickly started to fill the security leader in about the situation.

But as he was talking about sending someone to the chair room to defend the city, the Stargate activated itself.

"Raise the gate's shield!" Woolsey said.

"It's too late, whoever's doing this has complete control of the gate!" Chuck yelled, disbelieved.

"WHAT?!" the leader yelled.

That's when a Wraith guard came through, shooting.

"Quick! Neutralize whatever comes through the gate!" Woolsey ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the marines present said in unison.

The soldiers started shooting, but more Wraiths came through the portal. People around the gate started to fall like flies, under the fire of the Wraith guns.

The humans were soon overwhelmed, as they were overpowered by the life-sucking aliens.

Woolsey turned to Chuck, as he knew they had to tell the city's citizens they were under attack: "Put me on the speakers, quick!"

The technician nodded.

"This is your leader, Richard Woolsey, the city is under attack. I repeat: the city is under attack, the Wraith is on Atlantis-"

A Wraith guard saw him, and shot him. Some screaming followed.

The ex-IOA member fell to the ground, with the rest of the staff in the conference room.

...o.o.o...

"Come on, Sheppard, we're almost there!" Rodney urged, as he reached the door to his lab.

The colonel took a break and put his hand on the wall to support himself and take a break. "Gimme a sec, here."

Seeing the other man, McKay walked back to his friend's side. "I huh… I'm sorry, here lean on my arm and once we're in the lab you'll sit down."

Nodding, John did as suggested.

Not long after they had entered the lab, Alexander came in, running. He closed the doors after him. "Okay, I'm here. What's wrong?"

"We have to put Sheppard to safety. The Wraith is here." He looked down at the backpack his son had put down: "And what's this? You had time to pack?"

John wanted to rebuke at Rodney's wording, but a dull pain in his lower back reminded him of his situation.

"This is only some necessary stuff, medical stuff, food, clothes… in case, you know… But where should we go…?" Alexander stood there, thinking. Then it came to him: "I know!"

McKay's eyes brightened: "Really?"

"I've never been there myself, but I know you guys visited it a couple of times: Proculus. I've read about it in the city's database; I'm sure that priestess, Chaya Sar, would help us out."

"But what if we endanger her, by bringing the Wraiths to her?" John questioned.

"Come on, Sheppard, you know it well that she was take care of herself. But Alexander's right: you're gonna be safe on Proculus."

Alexander agreed with his dad. He then picked up his bag and put it back on his shoulder: "We should go now, before the Wraiths catch up with us."

"Okay" Rodney started, but stopped when something crossed his mind: "Are you good to go?" he asked the pregnant man.

"Yeah, I had a few minutes to catch my breath. Let's go."

...o.o.o...

"_This is your leader, Richard Woolsey, the city is under attack. I repeat: the city is under attack, the Wraith is on Atlantis-"_ was the message that had just blast through the speakers.

"Huh… What's happening?" Sarah asked Teyla.

The Athosian woman looked outside the infirmary stealthily; she had heard some screaming and stomping. She had a feeling things didn't go as well as intended with Todd. When she retreated back into the large room, she admitted: "Like Mr Woolsey said, we are under attack. I think trouble is coming to us." She was worried; Torren was with Canaan on the floating city. "Go get Dr. Beckett, we have to move."

The young woman nodded and walked quickly towards the office, at the back of infirmary. At that moment, she thought about what her boyfriend had told her, a few days before.

_Alexander came into Sarah's apartment. _

_She turned around and smiled at him. "Hi there, darling." She was about to kiss him, but as she encircled her arms around his neck, she was stopped by the frown marring his boyish face. "What's wrong?"_

"_In a few days, a Wraith will come to the city for a meeting."_

_Her face paled. "What?"_

"_I have a bad feeling about all this. With colonel Sheppard almost due, I'm trying to make an escape plan."_

_She nodded: "That's a good idea. Is there anyway I can help?" _

"_No. I don't want you to be hurt. I want you to be with Teyla when the meeting holds place."_

_She protested: "No! I want to be with you!"_

"_Teyla is a great warrior, she'll protect you" he replied. _

_She looked at him doubtfully, but said nothing more. _

"_But I'm sure nothing's gonna happen, I'm probably just being paranoid…" the young man added. He then hugged her: "I just want nothing to happen to you."_

As she mentally scoffed at that memory, she whispered: "Dr Beckett! We have to leave, Teyla said that we have to hide."

Looking up from some papers, the Scottish doctor frowned: "Really? But the meeting has only started!" He looked at his watch: "I think we just broke a record!" He then got up quickly; he knew better than to doubt Teyla's instincts.

As the three of them left the infirmary, they were ambushed by some guards who rose their guns at them, but didn't shoot.

One of them signaled them to follow.

"We don't have much choice, I don't have a gun on me" the Athosian woman admitted to the two humans. As they started to walk, she added: "Stay close to me."

...o.o.o...

"Guys! Wait, I need to catch my breath again…" Sheppard told the others.

Alexander wanted to roll his eyes and sigh, but seeing his mom's face all red made him change his mind. "Okay, let's enter this room so you can-"

They all froze on the spot when they heard someone approaching and yelling. "Hey you! Stop where you are!"

Sheppard stopped dead in his tracks when he recognize the man standing in front of them. "Ford?" Was he hallucinating? "What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?" The young man looked at him quizzically. "And how do you know my name?" He then pointed his gun at the three men in front of him.

They all raised their hands in defeat.

Sheppard tried to get Ford to remember who they were: "Aidan Ford, come on! You were in my team, as my lieutenant, here on Atlantis. Can't you remember? You left after you got addicted to the Wraith enzyme. Don't you remember taking us prisoner to hijack that Hiveship with your little gang?" he asked, a little panicked. He hoped it would work, because he didn't intend to die there. A strong kick from the baby made him wince and rub his stomach where it had hit. "Please don't shoot us, lieutenant" he pleaded, trying to appeal to Ford's human side.

"What's wrong with you?!" the armed man said. "You keep saying my name like you know me! Why do I have this weird feeling that I should remember?" he added, as he grabbed his head with one hand.

Alexander, whom until now had remained silent, analyzed the situation. His parents seemed to know the guy… but there was something weird about him; part of his face's skin was damaged and one of his eyes had a large black iris. He took all of his courage and bluntly said: "Look, we don't want anyone to get hurt. But it's really urgent that we leave Atlantis because mo-" He coughed, "I mean, colonel Sheppard has to get somewhere safe. Please, let us leave."

Gun still raised, Ford looked suspicious: "And why does he need to leave? The Queen has invaded this city to capture everyone and find a specific Wraith. Why would you be different?"

The three men looked at each other, but it was John who answered the question: "You may have forgotten who we are, but you know human anatomy… the _male_ anatomy? Can't you see something weird about me? Like I'm pregnant or something?"

The dark-skinned man chuckled: "Well, I did think you looked rather fat in the middle." His mood then changed radically: "But I still don't see why I shouldn't bring you back to the Queen."

McKay then spoke rather harshly, tired of playing games: "Ford! Dammit! Sheppard is pregnant! You wish to kill an innocent life that hasn't even seen the world yet!? You've stooped this low?" he yelled, as he pointed at John. Anger flashed in his blue eyes: "I always knew you were just a stupid grunt."

Something changed in Ford's face. Realization. "Doctor… McKay?" He looked somewhat perturbed.

Rodney's surprise was evident in his face and tone of voice: "You recognize me?"

The ex-lieutenant nodded, closing his eyes. "Yeah… still… it's all blurry in my head." Opening his eyes, he mocked: "But I do remember that you're an asshole." He then smiled widely: "Sheppard… I… also remember." He grabbed his head and lowered his gun. "But you…" he started as he observed Alexander.

The young man smiled lightly. "That's because we never met."

"Oh." Ford then looked back at John: "How did _this _happen?" he asked, as he pointed the round belly.

Sheppard made a face. "Long story. But to make it short, I'm pregnant and McKay's the… other parent."

Smirking, Aidan admitted: "I always knew that you two'd end up together."

A short, but heavy silence followed.

And Ford's smile fell. His mouth formed a "Oh" while pointing at both concerned men. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"That's alright" Sheppard replied quickly, "it's… complicated. But we really need to go." He didn't mention where they were going, not trusting the Wraith to search the human's mind if they wanted to find him. He encircled his very pregnant stomach, emphasizing the urgency of the situation: "I'm due any day now, you see."

The ex-lieutenant nodded. "I understand."

Alexander then spoke up: "We need to get to the jumper bay, so we can escape with the puddle jumpers."

Rodney agreed: "We must hurry, or else we could get caught by some Wraith guards."

That's when Ford smiled confidently: "You don't have to worry about me, I can distract them; I'm the Queen's pet. They wouldn't hurt me."

"Huh?!" the three other men exclaimed.

Leaving the small group in shock, the ex-lieutenant urged them: "Now come on! Let's go to the jumper bay."

...o.o.o...

In another part of the city, the Wraith had grouped every single citizen they could find in the mess hall. Only Woolsey and Ronon had been kept in the leader's office.

As Woolsey woke up with a start when he was called by someone.

It was Ronon: "Wake up, Mr Woolsey."

When his vision cleared up, the older man looked at his surroundings. He noticed that they had restrained Ronon: his hands and feet were attached. "Are you okay, Ronon?" Two Wraiths were guarding the door.

The Satedan nodded: "Yeah, just restrained."

Looking out from the window of his office, the older man analyzed the situation. The enemies were too numerous to retaliate without help from the outside world. He sighed, hoping that McKay and Sheppard had time to escape; the moment he had noticed that the scientist had not followed them from the conference room, he knew he had tried to escape with the colonel.

He noticed that the gate was active and that guards were guarding it; there was no way in or out of Atlantis.

Sighing, he sat in his chair. "I do wonder how we're gonna get out of this one…"

At that moment, a commotion was heard; a Wraith officer was walking towards the office.

When he entered, he declared: "The Queen wants to see the leader of the city." He motioned the guards: "Bring him and put the runner in the mess hall with the others."

One guard walked towards Woolsey and pulled him up by his blazer.

"I-I-I'm going, I'm going!" the man said, with nervousness.

The other guard took Ronon by his ankles and pulled him in the other direction.

When Woolsey got to the Stargate room, he was forced down on his knees by the Queen's might. At that point, he didn't know what to expect.

"Ah, here I meet the leader of this city. Happy to meet you" the Queen said, with sarcasm. "Now, what to do with you?" He hovered her fingers over his chin, eyes thirsty for information.

Woolsey looked straight into her eyes: "What do you want?"

"I want the Wraith that you call 'Todd'. He betrayed me and so I wanted revenge. We are here to get him."

It didn't last a few seconds more to the man to blurt out: "Then take him, but leave this city alone."

She smiled: "Oh but we will. However, we also want that infamous colonel Sheppard has every Wraith in his aim. Through Todd's mind, I learned that he was… incapacitated."

A sharp intake of breath was Woolsey's only response. He then added: "You won't have him."

She took his chin between her fingers forcefully: "Now, I don't see _you_ in a position to say such things." She straightened up and turned away: "It does not matter. Our soldiers are searching the entire city. We _will_ find him."

"You won't find him, even _I_ don't know where he is. Good luck with that" he said, with as much courage he could muster.

* * *

So this is it, a new chapter :D a little action is always welcomed!

I hope you enjoyed Ford's return! I thought about it for a while and it seemed to fit. I always had a weird opinion about him; in the end, I saw him a a lost puppy, and so that's how he'll fit in the story ;)

Constructive criticism is always welcomed! :)


	19. Pain, what pain?

**Pain, what pain?**

Meanwhile, in the mess hall, almost everyone from the expedition was stuck to wait.

Teyla had been thrown in, as well as Sarah and Dr Beckett. The latter was taking care of people who were waking up from being paralyzed by the Wraiths. He was helped by colonel Carter, who tried to reassure those who were panicked about the situation.

Walking around, the Athosian woman tried to see if she could get a hang of her friends and her family. She started to ask people around, when someone pointed at the far end of the room. She then noticed a few men grouped around someone on the ground.

As she approached, she noticed they were trying to untie Ronon.

The Satedan man was furious: "They'll pay! As soon as I'm out of these-"

"Ronon! There you are! Do you know about our team members' whereabouts?" the Athosian woman asked. As his bindings were finally off, she helped him get up. "I was with Dr Beckett and Sarah when the alert was called on the city speakers. And now here we are."

Rubbing his wrists, he answered: "I think McKay and Sheppard were able to leave Atlantis… or at least hide well enough that they haven't been found. They took Woolsey to the Queen. That's all I know."

"Let me go! I can walk by myself!"

"Talking about Woolsey…" Ronon started.

The older man was pushed by the two guards. He then straightened his jacket, trying to regain some dignity.

"Mr Woolsey, are you alright?" Teyla was concerned about the ex-IOA member.

He nodded: "Yes, yes I am. But I hope that colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay were able to leave Atlantis… the Wraith queen seems pretty determined to find the colonel." He sighed. "Have you any idea about what we could do next?"

The Athosian and the Satedan shook their heads.

"We'll have to wait, then. They can't have captured _everyone_ Atlantis yet…" Woolsey looked around the large room.

Someone walked in again, and this time, it was a man and a toddler in his arms.

"Canaan!" Teyla let out, as she rushed by her mate and child's side. She took her son into her arms: "Thank goodness you two are safe" she said with relief evident in her voice. "Now we must think; what could we do to escape or thwart the Wraiths' plan…"

...o.o.o...

As they arrived to the door leading to the puddle jumpers, Ford froze on the spot: "Wait, I hear some steps. Quick, hide!"

But Rodney had something else in mind. He quickly grabbed the Wraith handgun that Ford had on himself, and pointed it on him.

"McKay- what!?" the ex-lieutenant questioned. He started to panic, not knowing of the other's intentions. "Lower the gun!"

"On the ground!" the scientist harshly whispered, "and look in pain!" His brain was trying to come up with a plan to escape the Wraith.

Both Sheppard and Alexander froze on the spot. "What is _he_ doing?!" John whispered to his son.

"I don't know" was the young man's short reply.

Confused, Ford executed Rodney's plan.

"Why can't you leave us alone!?" Rodney then yelled.

The other two men looked confused, but when they heard the steps approach in a hurry, their minds stopped. What now?

"Run, imbeciles!" Rodney shot at John and Alexander, nervous.

Alexander quickly regained his senses and opened the door to the bay, grabbing Sheppard by the arm. "Come on, mom, quick!"

But Sheppard stopped him, then looked worried: "But… Rodney?"

Blue focused on hazel; their eyes connected for a moment before McKay quickly grabbed the pregnant man's arm and he gave him a quick peck on the lips. He then realized what was happening, but he couldn't let go. It felt _right_.

John didn't say a word as their mouths parted, he just stared, eyes wide.

Ford, on the floor, repeated incredulously: "_Mom?_"

Rodney, still holding the handgun firmly, threw at Ford: "Long story" before turning his attention to the other two men: "Are you stupid!? Go! I'll be more useful here. And they won't kill me, I know too much about the city, but if you stay here and get caught, then this will all been done for nothing!" He face was red from stress… and a little bit from the emotion of kissing Sheppard.

Alexander quickly pushed John through the automatic door, and said as he followed: "Good luck, dad. Be careful."

And the door closed with a 'woosh', sending a wave of relief to Rodney. He stood tall, ready for anything.

At that precise moment, a Wraith guard showed up. He was ready to attack.

A smirk of confidence suddenly appeared on McKay's face.

...o.o.o...

Waddling towards the closest jumper, Sheppard was stopped by Alexander: "No, we'll take this one."

The one the young man was pointing at one which was further into the bay, apart from the rest.

John didn't question and hurried the best he could with the weight he was carrying. He was out of breath, but it wasn't the time to take a break.

Alexander opened the small ship's hatch and didn't wait for his mother to arrive to start the engines. As soon as the man was inside, safe, he closed the door so no one could come in.

"Where are we going?" the older man asked; it wasn't like they could use the gate of Atlantis, because the Wraith was probably using it.

"The same place I said earlier: to Chaya's planet" Alexander simply answered, focused on getting them out of the city as soon as possible.

"What?! But we don't have a gate near, how can we reach the planet?"

Alexander turned around to face Sheppard, who was out of breath and sweating profusely. "Well, you see, this jumper was equipped with the same technology that was used to transport Atlantis back to Earth, almost a year ago, using the wormhole drive that Zelenka installed."

Panic invaded John: "Wasn't it unstable?"

The young man spun back to the front and cloaked the small ship as the bay door opened. He sped away from the tower, knowing the Wraith would target it in fear of someone escaping. He then took a relaxing breath: "Yeah… but Zelenka and his team have been working on it for the past few months and perfected it for small bursts of energy. As a weapon and long distance travel, it was indeed unstable, but for a small ship like this one it's gonna be okay. And we're only going to need a half-full ZPM for that."

"And _you_, through a Wraith invasion, were able to think ahead and put one in of your backpack, like magic?" Sheppard questioned, with a sarcastic tone.

As he gained outer space, Alexander chuckled. "No. Last time we did some tests, we decided to leave it here, but hide it so no one would find it. We also made sure no team would use this one."

John looked incredulously at his son: "What a luck! This day only keeps getting stranger." He then frowned: "And since when have you been doing those tests without my knowledge?"

"We should be safe, here." Alexander got up from the pilot's seat to retrieve the ZPM hidden underneath a bench, looking sheepish. "Huh… well you see, in the beginning, I wanted some time away from dad and Jennifer, so when Zelenka asked me to help him out with my ATA gene, I was glad to help. So he worked on perfecting the wormhole driver for smaller ships and I tried it out, since he doesn't have the gene."

Taking the ZPM from its protecting case, he pulled open another case, which was attached to some board, linking it to the ship through cables and put the power source in it. He then stopped what he was doing: "What do you mean by 'keeps getting stranger'?" He looked intently at John.

The other man looked guilty: "I've been having these strange back pains all day, accompanied by light nausea…"

"Mom!" Alexander snapped. "Those are signs of labor!"

Looking aside, Sheppard answered uneasily: "I know, I've had light spaced out contractions since last night…"

The young man wanted to tear off his hair. '_Now's not the time to panic. Gotta stay sharp._' He took in a deep calming breath, still crouched on the floor, finishing installing the wormhole driver, like he had seen Zelenka do so many time before. He got up and took another calming breath. "Okay, don't say anything. I'm trying not to yell here. But I'll tell you this: what the hell when through your head, dammit!?" He then furiously turned on some switches and the driver was brought to life.

Sheppard winced like a small child being scolded.

"You know like me Carson ordered you to warn him if you felt anything strange." His whole body was screaming, if not his voice. Bringing his palm to his forehead, the young man added: "And don't tell me it's because it was night and you didn't want to bother him!"

All that escaped the older man was a nervous laugh.

Alexander shook his head disapprovingly and got back to his seat, not saying a word. He sighed as he activated the wormhole driver. "Hang tight…"

...o.o.o...

The moment the door had closed, McKay knew that things could get dangerous.

"Don't move or I'll shoot him!" he warned the Wraith guard. Although it was not something he would do unless he had to, he had to appear ready to kill Ford. He was sweating from the stress, and could only hope the guard would believe his act.

The Wraith guard froze on the spot.

The scientist found it peculiar to see a Wraith listening to him, but he didn't care much about it. "Okay, now drop the gun. Or I shoot him."

Strangely enough the alien soldier did as asked. Slowly, he put down the gun at his feet and straitened back up.

Rodney used Ford's gun he had taken before and shot the guard, paralyzing him. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he had held in.

The younger man got up: "Ok, you should run and hide. I have to get back to the Queen and tell her what happened. She'll think that I was set up and that you guys left Atlantis."

Looking incredulously at the other man, McKay asked: "And she'll believe you, just like that?"

Ford quickly nodded: "Of course, I'm her pet, after all. Kinda like a spy. Plus, I'm used to hide my thoughts from them; didn't have much choice if I'd want to keep some kind of privacy." He then shrugged, in an attempt to look uncaring: "Being a pet has its perks, I guess."

Rodney rolled his eyes; only the ex-lieutenant could see the positive sides to being an alien queen's slave. "Fine. I'll try to find a way to release everyone." Looking back at the jumper bay's door, he sighed. "Hopefully Alexander and Sheppard are safe."

Putting a hand on the scientist's shoulder, Aiden smiled: "Don't worry, I'm sure the colonel's going to be fine. You know how he is…"

"Yeah, but this time, he's… he has two lives to protect. And he's always so fucking stubborn. Thankfully Alexander's with him."

"Yeah… I think we have a lot catching up to do, when this is all over" Ford confided, with a smile.

Rodney looked surprised. "After all this?"

Looking serious, the other man nodded: "I'd like to… come back, when this is all over." He then waved his hand to say goodbye: "But for now we have to separate ways." He started to run: "Good luck!"

...o.o.o...

The Queen's dress swooshed on the ground, as she waited impatiently. "I _want_ Sheppard and I'll get him. I _always _get what I want."

"We're doing our best, my Queen" her advisor intervened.

She turned around angrily: "Well do better than that!"

"Y-Yes, my Queen. I will see to it personally" the advisor exclaimed.

...o.o.o...

As they left hyperspace wormhole, Alexander switched off the driver and took a quick glance at John; the man was still slightly sweating and was trying to hide his pain. "You know," he started, "all of this wouldn't have happened if you had gone to see Carson last night."

John looked at the younger man: "I couldn't. The meeting was far more important."

Alexander wanted to yell in frustration so much, it hurt. "Mom! Damn it! Mr Woolsey would've simply pushed it back a day or two!"

The pregnant man frowned. "This wouldn't have stopped the other Hiveship from coming."

Rolling his eyes, the other answered: "No, but at least we probably would have been able to deal with them another way. We would have had time to use the drones or something like that." He got up and took the ZPM to put it back into its safety case and hid it back where it was before they left Atlantis. "Now, shall we go?"

Sheppard cracked a smile: "You know, you look a lot like Rodney when you roll your eyes like that."

Alexander sighed, but returned the smile. "I know, mom used to tell me all the time."

Then, as they were to go down on the planet, a flash of blue light inundated the small ship. An eerie voice spoke up: "John? That's a surprise!"

A sigh of relief left the pregnant man, as he recognized Chaya's true form. "Can we land? We have a lot to explain… and we need to take refuge here for the moment."

The cloud of light flashed again and a giggle followed: "I can see that. Of course John, you are always welcomed here." There was a short pause. "Do not fear, I have taken control of the ship and am guiding you towards a safe area."

As the jumper landed smoothly on the ground, Alexander opened the hatch, revealing a beautiful brunette in her early thirties. He picked up his backpack and another bag that he retrieved from inside a compartment.

"Good evening," Chaya greeted, accompanied by a warm smile.

Still sitting on the bench at the back of the ship, Sheppard closed his eyes for a second; a wave of relief washed over him.

Noticing that, Alexander put a hand on the older man's shoulder with concern: "Mom? Are you okay?"

A slow nod, then an answer: "Just tired, is all. Help me get up."

Alexander did as asked, as his mom rarely asked for help.

"Come, I have a small house nearby. You'll be able to rest there." Chaya started to walk. "You'll also tell me what happened" demanded, with a motherly tone.

As they followed her, Alexander fretted over his 'mom', trying to see if he was okay.

It took them around ten minutes to reach the small wooden house. When they did, John asked: "So you're not Athar's priestess anymore?"

They entered the house, in a large room with a sitting area. Alexander put down his heavy bags, thankful for the respite.

Chaya motioned them to sit down. "No, I had to leave, as I had been in that small village for a while. They would have started to become suspicious if I would have stayed longer; I don't age and my secret would have been out. So, I moved, saying that Athar had asked me to travel and help other villages." She smiled knowingly: "It had to be a pilgrimage that I had to do alone, of course." She then walked further into the room, which seemed to be the kitchen area. "Tea?"

Feeling like he had an oven attached to his abdomen, John shook his head: "I'm not feeling like drinking something hot, at the moment, thank you."

"I'll pass as well" Alexander added. "We are deeply sorry for not warning you beforehand. But we had to leave in a hurry."

As the young man was going to continue, Chaya paused making her tea and walked towards him. She extended her hands in front of him.

He looked quizzically at Sheppard, who gave a quick nod to encourage him to copy her.

So the young man got up and put his larger hands on top of her smaller ones.

A faint glow encircled them both, and dimmed as they separated.

A smile graced her face: "Ah, I am glad to meet you, Alexander." Her smile grew larger: "So you're the little boy who came to Atlantis some time ago." But then her facial expression darkened: "However, I see the gravity of the situation." She turned to face the pregnant man: "I am glad you came here; you can't be safer than with me, John."

The Ancient woman walked to the colonel and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll take care of you and your little one. Don't worry, I have a lot of experience with births." She then clasped her hands together: "I am rather anxious to see that little face. And to think that she was created thanks to a Lantean machine." She stooped and put a hand on John's very round belly and left it there for a few seconds. She got up to finish her tea, and mentioned as she walked towards the kitchen area: "I hope you're ready for an old fashioned birth, my dear friend. Because we don't have Atlantis' installations."

"What do you mean?!"

She turned around and looked at him: "I've felt it, your daughter is ready to see the world, John."

The man shook his head in denial. "No! No no no…" but he was stopped when he hissed because of a sharp pain. "But she's not ready yet… _I'm_ not ready yet." He started to panic: "I… I should be on Atlantis! I should be there to defend our home!" His emotions were out of control.

Chaya sent a look at Alexander and sighed: "You can't go and you know it, John. You're an easy prey for the Wraiths. It'd be selfish of you to be there; you'd simply be a burden for the others. I don't care if you hate me for saying this, but you have to stay here, and you'll be having your daughter soon; if it's not today, it'll be tomorrow. End of the story." The woman then crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Chaya's right, mom. So don't you dare choose her as your scapegoat. You know very well that it was all my idea to bring you here."

"I DON'T CARE WHOSE IDEA IT WAS! I-" the man grabbed the bottom of his belly.

Alexander's eyes widened. "Mom!?"

Sheppard shrugged it off: "Just a hard kick..." his face changed, "I think..."

Chaya walked back towards John and took his arm and patted it soothingly. "Please breathe deeply to calm down." She sat down beside him and took his hand. "We just want you to be safe and let the others fight for you, for once."

Alexander kneeled down and stared straightly into John's eyes. "Mom, we can't have you run around like crazy and harm yourself... Or the baby. Think of that little girl you connected with in your meditations. Do you want her to get hurt before even seeing daylight?" Alexander said with his eyes glistening slightly. "Mom... you gotta understand... all those people on Atlantis, they would _want_ you to be safe. They care about you and your child." he breathed in deeply: "And like Chaya said, let them fight for you, this one time."

John stared into his... 'son's' eyes. Those blue eyes. The man looked away. _Rodney's_ blue eyes. Dammit, Rodney was fighting those monsters and he wasn't there to protect him. "No... I don't want her to get hurt. It's just... so unfair, Alexander. I just want to be there to make sure no one dies..." and a single tear escaped John's eyes. "So fucking unfair..." He looked up at the Ancient woman: "I'm sorry, Chaya. I just..."

"Don't worry about it, John." She squeezed his hand lightly and smiled. "We all know how much you love those people. I'm pretty sure that all those soldiers you have trained will know what to do. And they have Dr McKay with them, don't they?"

Sheppard rolled his eyes dramatically, but they still held some truth: "That's exactly why I'm worried."

A sigh escaped Chaya. She got up: "Now, there's not much we can do about it for the moment. So we might as well prepare for the birth."

Alexander chuckled nervously: "It's a good thing, then, that I brought some things with me. It was a suggestion from dad and Carson." He then clasped his hands together: "Well, then. I'll got fetch some water." He had seen a stream on their way to the small house. "I'll be back in a while…"

...o.o.o...

A few moments before, on Atlantis, the Wraiths were still trying in vain to find Sheppard.

"I don't think that this area is-" the queen's second in command was cut when they heard a commotion inside the Stargate room. The queen looked down at who was doing all that noise, intrigued.

"My Queen!" Ford entered the command room, climbing the stairs two by two in panic.

"Ah, my pet. What troubles you?" she asked the ex-lieutenant with a smile.

He kneeled in front of her and looked into her eyes, with desperation: "Your majesty, I saw the human, colonel Sheppard." He then lowered his head faking shame: "But the scientist trapped and he neutralized me. He even stunned a guard that came to help me. After that, he also used the gun on me, and when I woke up he was gone. I failed you, my Queen. I deserve a punishment."

She smiled wickedly: "I know I can always trust my pet. You were at least able to find them, unlike my soldiers." She turned around. "The scientist with colonel Sheppard probably was Dr McKay… Now, I want you to go inquire about their whereabouts. You may do as you wish to find them; the humans that we collected are all in the same room. Their leader was useless, but one of them is bound to know where Sheppard is. And since you are human yourself, they may trust you more easily." She made a gesture of dismissal: "You may leave. And don't disappoint me a second time, because this time punishment will be required…"

Getting up, Ford bowed. "Yes, my Queen." He tried to keep a smile from appearing on his face. She had given him carte blanche to learn about Sheppard's location. This was almost too easy.

...o.o.o...

Inside the mess hall, people were still waiting.

Woolsey was discussing, with colonel Carter about the possible ways to get out. "If only Dr McKay was here, I'm sure he would have thought of something…"

"Mhmm, I think you're putting too much faith in him. I'm sure we could find something by ourselves. We just have to use our environment to our advantage; we are home, they're not."

A silence was held for a minute as they looked around the room.

"I think that we could have someone climb the exterior wall. Ronon should be able to do it" Woolsey suggested.

Samantha made a face. "I don't know, Richard. We'd have to distract the guards that the same time."

People started whispering at the same time. They were starting to herd near the principal exit of the mess hall.

Woolsey and Carter walked closer as they heard a loud voice: "I wish to see the city's leader. The Queen said I had the permission to walk around freely…"

Teyla and Ronon joined the colonel and ex-IOA member.

"Am I dreaming? Isn't this Aiden's voice, Ronon?" the Athosian woman said, incredulous.

The Satedan tried to identify the voice: "Well, it does sound like it…"

Their suspicion was confirmed when the said man entered the mess hall and the people present parted to let him walk to the leader of Atlantis.

"Aidan? What are you doing here?" Teyla inquired, worried about seeing the ex-lieutenant there. "I thought you had died when that Hiveship exploded…"

A smirk appeared on Ford's face: "Never underestimate a member of Sheppard's team." His expression then became serious. "But now's not the time to talk about this. Don't worry, I know Colonel isn't on Atlantis anymore."

Ronon didn't like much having the younger man's presence on Atlantis, but when he heard the colonel's name coming out of his mouth, he had to ask, concerned: "Where's Sheppard. And what about McKay?"

Looking behind him, he saw that the Wraith guards were listening on him. He brought an arm around Woolsey's shoulders. He then whispered: "Go along." He decided to take a menacing tone and speak louder: "Now that's _exactly_ what I' like to hear. Now come, I think we have much to discuss."

He walked away from prying ears, and tried to keep a controlled exterior. He could see the questions in the other's eyes. When he was far enough, he started with: "Sorry about that. Gotta fool the guards." He sighed. "But yeah, I've seen both of them. The colonel left with a guy in his early twenties and McKay stayed here. He said he'd try to find a way to rescue the city."

Ronon looked at Woolsey: "It was probably Alexander whom was with Sheppard."

The expression in colonel Carter's face lightened: "I'm glad Rodney is still here. This means we still have a chance at winning Atlantis back." She felt some light of hope flutter in her chest.

Ford then looked a bit uneasy: "But the colonel looked a little bit out of shape… well, he _was_ rounded" he gestured around his stomach area, "just there. I meant he looked kinda in pain… I think the baby wanted out."

Everyone gasped, but it was Teyla who spoke first: "But did he tell you where he was going? If the baby is coming… Carson won't be there for him- and- oh! He was supposed to get surgery in a few days… I hope things are going to be alright…" the Athosian woman was worried.

Samantha put a hand on Teyla's shoulder. "Don't worry. If Alexander's with him, he probably prepared for an emergency like this. The boy's pretty resourceful; he has McKay and Sheppard genes in him, after all."

That thought made the Athosian smile: "I guess you're right; I should have a more faith in him."

Ronon then exclaimed: "What's your intention, Ford?" He had to know what the other man wanted.

The younger man replied immediately: "I want to repair my mistakes. I want to help you guys out; I may be the Queen's pet, but I… would like to come back… home?" He then fiddled with his hands, knowing they wouldn't let him back so easily. And he knew Ronon didn't like him at all… which was understandable with all the problems he had cause them.

Looking into the other's eyes, Ronon saw something: "Fine, if you get us out and make the Wraith leave, you got my vote."

Woolsey, curious, inquired: "But won't the Wraith guards try to stop you?"

Ford hesitated: "Well, yeah probably. But I'll try to be as discreet as possible. I'll find McKay and he'll help. I'll try to be quick." He then turned around to leave: "Don't take this personally."

They were about to ask 'take what personally?' when he yelled: "Dammit you stupid humans! I'll be back and you'll have an answer for me then!" Looking angry and determined, he left the room and pushed one guard before he was out of sight.

Ronon growled lightly: "I hate being a sitting duck."

Teyla put a hand on his arm. She too hated feeling useless; they could only hope Rodney and Ford would be able to do something.

* * *

Hey everyone! :) Here's a rather long chapter (4654 words! omg) but I couldn't cut some scenes out, so there. Hope you'll like it!

Oh yeah, and I brought back Chaya; I liked how I had written her in _Precious Times_, so I thought she would welcoming towards Sheppard and his *ahem* situation. And don't forget Ford -to the rescue! :P


	20. Oh! You mean that pain…

**Oh! You mean **_**that**_** pain…**

When Alexander came back to Chaya's house with two buckets of water, he could hear John moan from the pain.

He entered the sole room of the small home, and looked at his mom: "The contractions are coming closer and closer, huh?"

Sheppard nodded, while scrunching his face. As the pain left, he admitted: "And it hurts like a bitch. Are you going to have enough water?"

"I should be okay." He looked at Chaya: "Do you mind if we bring him over to your bed? I have some blankets to cover it…"

The Ancient woman nodded and helped Alexander to support John to the bed. The young man then put down covers on the bed to make sure there wouldn't be blood on the bed.

As he made himself more comfortable, the colonel looked at his son: "Can't you at least give me something for the pain?"

The young medic shook his head: "Sorry, no. The fact that we're not on Atlantis complicates things a lot. It wouldn't be safe since I'm not a doctor; I know some stuff, but this is something else entirely. Besides," he started, "in old times, women had to go through labour without them anyways, so I'm sure you can manage" he finished with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Looking down at his ready-to-burst stomach, he growled. "Great, so you're gonna cut me open like a vulgar piece of meat?"

Chaya giggled nervously at that thought.

Raising a finger in the air, the younger man said: "Well, for this, I can apply a local anesthetic in gel. It won't numb completely, just enough so you don't feel everything." He motioned John to lie down: "I just want to take a look at the area, so if you could just pull your shirt up…"

But when John did as asked, Alexander's face blanched.

And that made the colonel panic: "What? What's wrong?!" he asked from where he was lying on the bed.

Chaya stared blankly at where the young man was staring. "I _was _actually _joking_ earlier when I said an 'old fashioned birth'."

"Th-There's… there's a line… a red line…" Alexander pushed down the pants' elastic waist a little, with slightly trembling hands. "Below your navel." He was stupefied. "I- I think this may be…"

A rock fell at the bottom of John's stomach. "No… no, no, no no! Don't tell me this is what I think it is."

Alexander nodded slowly, like in trance.

Chaya then spoke up: "A birth… canal" she declared, with a smile on her lips in amazement.

Sheppard tried to sit up by pushing himself with his elbows and look at it: "Gimme a mirror, anything that can reflect." Alexander gave him a small one he had in his breast pockets, and when he saw the line… he made a horrified face. "B-but… but… it wasn't there yesterday!?" He frowned, nervous: "At least… I think so; I haven't seen my dick in a while… so I guess I could have missed this."

"I guess we'll _indeed _have to do it the ol' fashioned way" Alexander laughed nervously. "The nanites… it's likely they've been programmed to do this if the baby isn't removed surgically. They probably triggered the birth detecting your stress and the baby's."

John wanted to retort, but he could feel another contraction coming. "Oh god, no. Not already!" he winced, trying not to yell in pain and whimpered slightly when it went away. "And they're supposed to get worse?"

Chaya made a sympathetic face. "This means that the birth is coming faster than we expected." She thought for a second. "I wonder if your water will break like woman's." When Sheppard made a grossed out face, she asked Alexander: "Don't you have this kind of information?"

The young man shook his head: "Some parts of the data contained in the machine were corrupted or missing. We had to rely on the native of the planet's own experience with this. They've only told us about cutting the baby out." He then gestured the angry red line on Sheppard's belly. "They've never mentioned that 'opening'. I'm afraid that the nanites will be in the way if I try to make an incision. It's not how it was planned… and I'm no doctor. I can't do this." He started to panic: "What if the nanites start to malfunction and… and… mom dies?" He grabbed the front of his shirt with fear.

Chaya looked worried at the young man's outburst.

"I'm right here, you know…" Sheppard said sarcastically. He sighed uneasily and sat up in the bed. "Come here, kid."

Alexander walked beside the bed, unsure.

The colonel grabbed his son's arm and pulled close: "Whatever happens, I know… I know you will have done your best, kid. If… if I die…" Teeth clenching, he sensed a new contraction coming. He released a sigh once it had passed; he didn't want to say this out loud: "If I die, I want you to know that I won't hold it against you. Will you take care of her for me?"

The young man's eyes became watery: "Yes" was the only thing he was able to utter out with the knot caught in his throat. He then tried to chuckle to lighten the mood: "She _is_ my little sister, after all."

Chaya rubbed Alexander's back in a soothing manner: "Don't worry, if we do our best, I'm sure things will be just fine." She then looked at Sheppard's line; it was getting redder and thicker. "I think the nanites are doing a fine job. They're mimicking real life. It's wonderful, if you ask me" she exclaimed.

"No, it's _not_ wonderful" John said, flustered.

The Ancient woman giggled slightly: "Of course it is, you just don't realize that yet, but you'll see." She smiled. "When you'll hold your daughter in your arms, you'll understand what I mean."

The pregnant man scoffed: "Yeah, but in the mean time, _I'm in pain_." He breathed deeply: "So, I have the _right_ to _whine_ about it."

Alexander patted his shoulder: "Okay, but only until this is all over with." He got up: "Well, this is going to be a long night…" The sun was slowly setting. "I'll check what can be used from what I brought in my bags."

John groaned, feeling his lower body contract again.

...o.o.o...

Back on Atlantis, Aiden Ford was determined to find a way to get back the city from the Wraiths.

He stopped in his tracks when a thought struck him: he could always set up the auto-destruction. But then, that's probably what the Wraith wanted. Or not. They wouldn't want to blow themselves up, right?

With a smile on his face, Ford set his course to the cells; maybe he could get some help from Todd as well.

Mid-way there, he met a frantic Zelenka, who was alone. When the Czech saw him, he tried to run away.

"Wait!" Aiden yelled. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to know where McKay is…"

The scientist started mumbling his answer: Rodney had asked him to tell _no one_ of his whereabouts. He apologized: "I'm sorry, no, I haven't seen him. I was searching for him as well. But if I do, I'll tell McKay you wanted to talk to him."

Ford nodded and muttered a quick "Thanks. If he wants to know, I'll be at the cells down in the lowest levels of the city" before resuming his journey.

Zelenka, alone again, made his way to the chair room.

Before he entered, Radek made sure no one saw him activate the switch to open the door. When it closed, the scientist noticed McKay.

The Canadian looked up from where he was working, lounging in the Ancient chair, going through the digital screen above him. Since its location was well hidden from the city, the Wraiths couldn't find him there. "Oh hey, Radek."

"Rodney, I saw lieutenant Ford… He wanted to see you."

"Oh" was the only thing McKay could say. He was focused on the information the chair was displaying about the city. He then made a satisfied sound: "There. I've locked the city's life detector; they won't be able to use it from the command room. I've also locked some doors; they can't come into this part of the city. So, we're safe until they notice that." His eyes left the screens above him to focus on Zelenka: "And what did you tell him?"

"Well, that I didn't know where you were, like you told me to say."

Making a noncommittal noise, McKay asked: "Did he tell you where he was going?"

The man nodded: "He mentioned something about the cells."

Thoughts suddenly stopped swirling in Rodney's mind: "He's what?!" Looking aside, he continued: "Must have went to get Todd. Dunno why he'd need him for, though. Unless…"

Raising an eyebrow, Zelenka waited for the other man to continue.

A light of understanding flashed through the Canadian's eyes: "Maybe he has a plan and Todd has a part in it." Then, for a second, he took the time to wonder about Sheppard's situation; he hoped the man was safe.

...o.o.o...

Entering the cells, Ford looked around to finally locate the imprisoned Wraith.

It was the alien who greeted him first: "What do you want, human? You came to mock me?"

Knowing that not being to read his mind was frustrating Todd. He answered with a smile: "No. The Queen wanted me to fetch you. She wants you to find the human, colonel Sheppard." It wasn't true, but it wasn't false either. When she first came to Atlantis, it was to take revenge on Todd, who had damaged part of her Wraith army. But when she had learned that the infamous colonel John Sheppard was incapacitated, she had momentarily abandoned her first target.

"How could I find him? They imprisoned me as soon as they learned that Atlantis was sunder attack…"

"Yeah, well you know… She thinks that you're withholding something." He let out a wicked smile: "You see, you were very hasty to let her know of Sheppard's situation. She wants more." What Ford was not saying, was that he had his own plan for Todd; he needed to buy some time. He only wanted to to use the city's self-destruct program in last resort.

Analyzing the Wraith, Aiden noticed, from the stance and his appearance, that he had fed not long ago. Maybe the first part of his plan would work, after all. "But, _I_ may have an alternative for you" he offered.

The Wraith only rose an eyebrow as his answer.

"You could help me. I want for the Queen and her guards to leave Atlantis. I need you to create a diversion. You'll have to block your thoughts from the other Wraiths to ensure secrecy."

"And what do I have to gain from all this?" Todd growled. He didn't know who that human was, but he had a lot of nerves to order him like that.

A smile appeared on the human's face: "Simple: your freedom. If you don't help me, you know that once the Queen has her attention diverted from colonel Sheppard, she'll come for you."

Todd weighted his options: either way, he needed to leave that cell. "I guess we can help out each other."

"That's what I like to hear." He then searched for the cell's control panel. "Let's see…" He fiddled with the code. "Well well, can you believe this? They haven't changed the codes. Thankfully I still remember them!" he chuckled lightly.

The electrical field powered down and the door opened, leaving the Wraith free. "Well then, shall we start?" Todd said, as he cracked his knuckles: "Like Dr McKay would say: 'getting bored, here'. I'm _ready_."

Nodding, Ford started to walk towards the exit door: "We need to buy a few hours for McKay, he's supposed to find a way to get rid of them. We must be careful not to alert the Queen."

...o.o.o...

With his 'mother' in pain, Alexander was thinking of a way to help the members of Atlantis; he knew that he would need help from another force. Maybe the Geniis would be willing to give him a hand. He made a face: but they didn't own spaceships. He sighed. "Damn."

Sheppard looked up from where he was sitting, on the bed. "What's wrong?" he asked, when the pain subsided.

Jerked away from his thoughts, Alexander startled a bit at hearing John. "Huh, nothing…" He then realized that maybe telling him about his idea would help him forget the pain: "Well, I'm trying to find a solution to get rid of the Wraiths on Atlantis. The Geniis could have helped us, but with the gate controlled by the Wraiths, they won't be able to come in."

John nodded: "Yeah, if only we'd have a bigger ship…"

Listening with one ear as she was preparing a light snack for her guests, Chaya thought about Atlantis. She sighed, wanting to help out the people of Atlantis; she had an idea, but she first wanted to be there for John to coach him through the birth. She also didn't want to leave Alexander alone with this responsibility.

"Grrrr my belly is itchy under the navel…" Sheppard tried to control himself not to scratch the skin. "It's been like that for the past half-hour."

The young man made a noncommittal sound. "I guess we should focus on you, for the moment. Let's take a look at that line again; it's been around an hour and I want to see if it changed. If it's itchy it's probably because the skin is being pulled apart by the nanites."

The pregnant man lifted his shirt like earlier.

"Yes, we can see some parts of the skin opening in the middle of the red line" the young man described.

As he finished his sentence, the skin on Sheppard's stomach finished opening, letting a clear liquid escape.

"What's _that_?" the older man asked, slightly worried because he couldn't see what it was.

Alexander and Chaya looked at each other before the latter answered: "It seems your 'water' broke, John."

"My _what_?"

"It seems this is going way faster than a natural birth; usually it lasts longer for a first-time child…" the young man noted.

"Maybe it's the nanites" Chaya simply answered.

"Yeah, maybe. We should warm up some of the water, just in case."

Sheppard was starting to panic; it was starting to get real. "This is going to hurt even more, right?" he asked in fear. Right on cue, a contraction started slow and gradually became stronger to the point where he had to clench his teeth and grunt, gripping the bed's frame until it passed. "Damn it, yes it is."

The Ancient woman patted his arm to comfort him. "You should try meditating, John. It helps with the pain."

Nodding, John just wanted to yell at her that he wouldn't be able to meditate. He just wanted for this to be over with so the pain would go away.

"Okay, now we must wait." Chaya smiled and said with a motherly tone: "Don't worry John, everything is going fine and in a few hours you should hold your daughter."

...o.o.o...

Meanwhile, Todd and Ford were navigating through the city, trying to eliminate the Wraiths they came across, discreetly.

In the chair room, Rodney was monitoring the people present with the life sign detector. He noticed some signs disappearing on his screen. "What the?" he said to himself. He typed something and the camera near the two signs who just had neutralized the third one gave him a clear picture; it was Todd and Ford.

He quickly activated the speakers only in that room: "Ford! What are you doing?"

Hearing the voice on the speakers, Aiden stopped his course: "McKay! Where are you?" He kept his voice low, not to attract other opponents.

Stopping for a second before answering, McKay didn't want to say too much, in case Todd would betray them: "I'm in a lab; I sealed the doors around me so the Wraith can't come to me." He paused, then added: "So what's your plan?"

"We're taking out the Wraith guards we meet on our way."

"Good, I'll guide you guys; I have a large scaled life-sign detector. This way, you'll have more chance of staying undetected."

...o.o.o...

With the contractions getting stronger and stronger within two hours, Sheppard was getting exhausted. "Is this normal?" he asked, worried.

"Sadly, yes. Pain can wear you down. Hang in there, we're not finished." Taking a look at the red line -now a full opening- Alexander could compare with a normal birth. "It's kinda hard to tell, but I guess we could say that you're dilated far enough..?"

Finding the strength to nod, John braced himself as the pain was coming back. He whined a little, feeling ridiculous and weak; he was lying on his back on the bed, with his legs bent at a 45 degree angle. Looking at the ceiling he could only hope for things to be over soon. He couldn't handle it for much longer.

But that's when he felt it; it was a strange feeling: "That's weird, I feel something…"

"-Like the urge to push?" Alexander cut in.

Sheppard made a face and blushed slightly: "Yeah… I guess so? It's just weird."

Releasing a nervous sigh, the young man nodded, looking at Chaya. "Okay, well I guess this is it. Mom, next time you feel a contraction coming, you'll have to push."

The Ancient woman put some pillows behind John's back for him to almost-sit.

Making another face, the pregnant man repeated: "To push?"

Alexander took a small washcloth and wiped the sweat off the man's face: "Yeah, this is the hard part. I know you're tired, but you gotta stay strong, okay?" He focused the stress he was feeling on appearing confident.

A groan was Sheppard's only verbal answer, but he nodded nonetheless.

And as he felt another contraction coming, he followed Chaya's instructions as she coached him through the process.

"That's it, John, you're doing great."

Scrunching his face in pain, the colonel could only try to think of something else to alleviate the pain. However, the only other thing he could think about was the Wraith and Rodney, back on Atlantis. But the pain was too great that he couldn't even think about that for too long.

"Come on, mom, keep breathing deeply."

As he pushed with the contraction, John felt it: "I- I- think I felt her move down!" he exclaimed suddenly. It was a weird sensation, but he was glad that it would all end soon. He groaned as the contraction lessened: "Oh thank god this one is almost over."

Chaya wiped off some of the sweat from John's eyebrow: "Take a break, now. And as soon as another contraction hits, you go again."

Nodding, Sheppard now could really say he understood women when they would complain about childbirth: "Dammit! Why can't this go any faster!" he declared, as he fell back against the pillow, tired.

The Ancient woman chuckled: "If it'd go faster, there would be some risks of tearing; although in your case, it's already going pretty fast -I'm guessing it's the nanites. So you should consider lucky; a lot of women must be in pain for sometimes almost an entire day when it comes to the birth of their first child…"

"Urgh this is _not_ making me feel better, you know…" Sheppard said, unconvinced. "Argh! Another one is coming!" He started to breathe unevenly, too focused on the pain.

"Hey, don't forget to take deep breaths, old man" Alexander said, adding the last part with a mocking tone, trying to alleviate the atmosphere.

Through the contraction, John pushed and tried to talk at the same time: "Don't! Call! Me! Old!" he yelled in short intervals.

Putting a hand on the pregnant man's belly, Chaya analyzed the situation: "That's good, she's moved quite a bit" she admitted with a smile.

...o.o.o...

Rodney focused on the screens, helping out Ford and Todd, but he couldn't help but wonder about John and Alexander. If something had happened to them, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"_McKay?"_ a voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Huh, yeah, still there" he answered hastily. "Turn to your left, two Wraiths are patrolling the hallway."

"_Thanks!_" Ford answered.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait! Here's another chapter in Sheppard's great adventure: the birth of his daughter! :D

Thank you to all the people who reviewed and added _Beyond the Lie_ to their lists!

I also wanted to thank Pete, who reviewed, because I can't reply to him personally! :)


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